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vTel Deploying Gigabit Internet In Vermont At $35/Month

Posted by Soulskill on from the when-i-think-fast-internet,-i-think-rural-vermont dept.

symbolset writes "Up to 17,500 rural Vermont subscribers of vTel, a legacy copper telephone company, stand to get gigabit fiber to the home. Funded by a $95 million U.S. grant and $55 million in coinvestment from a utility for smart meters, the 1,200 mile fiber network will cost $8,500 per home — if every subscriber takes the gigabit Internet. Currently the company is doing its best to convince people this is a product they need, but have seen only 600 takers so far. The federal grant is part of $7.2 billion in broadband stimulus funds that seem to have accomplished very little."

4 of 146 comments (clear)

  1. This is why by e065c8515d206cb0e190 · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Governement should not subsidise anything. Ensuring proper regulation and competition is enough.

    Am I the only one appalled by such counterproductive use of tax dollars?
    Don't get me wrong, I like fibre and hate the usual suspects (TWC, Comcast, ...). But seriously? $8,500 per home and that's if the home actually subscribes to the service?

    1. Re:This is why by currently_awake · · Score: 3, Interesting

      By your logic government should not pay for public roads. It should all be privately owned toll roads. And get rid of the public fire department, you can pay for that if you need it (or they can buy your house when it catches fire- it worked in ancient Rome). The purpose of government is to act as the collective will of the people, and having public roads/sewer/water/police/internet is the best way to do it.

  2. And A Side Note About VTel's Telephone Service by charles05663 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    They are by far the best phone company I have every dealt with. They answer the phone on the first ring and will make changes to your phone service while on the phone. I dropped MCI for my long distance after they pissed me off to no end and went to VoIP. I called VTel and had them drop MCI from my account and she made the change while on the phone. I called MCI and told them to drop my account. The lady at MCI asked when I contacted my telephone company and I informed her I just got off the phone with VTel and the did it while on the phone. She argued with me that was impossible. I said then call them. A few minutes later the MCI lady called back and told me she has never seen service like this and I should and I should stick with them. I did as they are very customer oriented and the only other option in town is Comcast.

  3. $8500 per home? seems high by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Having recently added a sewer to my home and spending about $4000 in the process ($3000 for the hookup fees + $1000 for connecting to the city sewer), $8500 for running fiber to a house and hooking up to most likely a line on the utility pole seems awful steep.

    With the sewer line, the city had to tear up the street, run a line down the middle, connect to another line about a mile away, and charged $3000 for that. The cost for running the sewer from the house to the street involved digging up my yard with a ditch-witch, connecting the line and then backfilling. The plumbers were done in a day, my guess is that the wages for the two totaled about $500 for the day, the other $500 covered profit, materials and tools.

    By comparison, I have seen the cable company and also the phone company run new lines to my house and be done in about 30 minutes. Fiber can't be that much harder.

    BTW, in both examples I am ignoring the cost of the central facility (a sewage treatment plant, a data switch) which are normally amortirized and paid for by usage fees.

    Does fiber really cost that much to run? $140 million seems awful high for an initial capital investment.