The Vermont Community Broadband Board (VCBB) announced today that Vermont has joined other nationwide applicants in applying for funding from the $1 billion Enabling Middle Mile Broadband Infrastructure Program, a federal program to expand middle mile infrastructure, to reduce the cost of connecting unserved and underserved broadband areas. The program will also increase the resilience of Internet infrastructure. Middle mile infrastructure broadly refers to the mid-section of Internet infrastructure that carries large amounts of data at high speeds over long distances.
Vermont’s application proposes a $114M, 1,663-mile, statewide middle mile network. The proposal was developed in collaboration with the state's nine (9) Communications Union Districts and the state's major telecommunication companies. This project is supported by a $30 million state match to be included in the Governor’s budget proposal and over $16 million in cash and in-kind contributions from NEK Broadband, ECFiber, and FirstLight.
More information about the Middle Mile Proposal can be found on the VCBB's Vermont's Middle Mile Proposal for the NTIA webpage or on the Press Release regarding the proposal.
Original source can be found here.
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