The Woodstock Town Selectboard meets this evening at 7pm at the Town Hall. Among agenda items is a letter concerning ECFiber, the group that is working to bring privately — or publically if it can — high-speed fiber optic connectivity to Woodstock. We wondered what the agenda item is about being presented to the Selectboard. We asked local EC Fiber Coordinator Dave Brown to explain:
A number of the 23 selectboards who voted to join ECFiber in 2008 have written to Gov. Peter Shumlin expressing their concern over the Administrations apparent preferential treatment of Fairpoint Communications. (Most recently, the Vermont Telecommunications Authority gave Fairpoint $6.6M+ to expand its DSL service while giving ECFiber $0 to expand its fiber optic service.)
Although Woodstock is not directly affected by the Administrations’ preference for Fairpoint, in the long run it makes it more difficult for ECFiber to achieve the goal that the Selectboards directed. It seemed to me that Woodstock should go on record expressing their concern for the Administration’s bias toward an obsolete technology, provided by and out-of-state corporation, at a much higher cost to the taxpayer.
The letter urges the Governor to direct the Vermont Telecommunications Authority to treat all telecom providers on an equal basis, dollar for dollar.
There’s always more of interest at these municipal meetings held at the Town Hall at 7pm. For more info about Village and Town life go to : www.townofwoodstock.org
Julia Carlisle
Woodstock Early Bird 