The state is looking for Vermonters who can’t get on an available high-speed broadband network due to a lack of computer equipment or digital literacy.
The Vermont Community Broadband Board says it's moving ahead with a $5.3 million federally funded program, the Digital Equity Plan, to help aging, low-income, and other groups in Vermont get online, as the state moves ahead with its buildout of a high-speed broadband network.
“Digital Equity’s role is to ensure that every individual in Vermont has the access, the affordable technology, and the skills to be able to be on the internet and navigating it meaningfully and safely,” said Vermont Community Broadband Board Digital Equity Officer Britaney Watson.
Watson has been meeting with groups around the state to determine where there is a need to supply people with equipment, or offer training, so people know about the resources that are available over the high-speed broadband network that the state has been building out.
The VCBB is holding virtual and in-person meetings, and communicating closely with groups around the state that work with seniors, veterans, low-income Vermonters and other marginalized groups, to try to determine on a house-by-house basis who needs help with the new technologies.
Watson said there has been some confusion with the Trump administration’s actions to slow down or eliminate some federal programs, especially those that target diversity and inclusion.
But she said the money has been delivered, and so the state has begun holding sessions to begin the work.
“The DE program is underway,” she said. “So we’re moving forward until somebody tells us that we can’t, and right now we don’t have anyone telling us that we can’t.”
The funding for the program was included in the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021, which included $65 billion to help Americans access broadband services.
According to the VCBB, about 95% of the state identifies with one or more of the criteria the federal government used to develop the Digital Equity program, and include low-income, aging or rural households, incarcerated individuals, veterans, people with disabilities, or a language barrier, and ethnic or racial minorities.
She said the board hopes to set up a donation and refurbishment program to help collect outdated equipment, and then update that equipment to distribute to people who need it.
As part of the federal funding, Vermont expects to use about $2 million to refurbish computers, as well as offer training and workforce development.
VCBB Executive Director Christine Hallquist said the state is 94% done with its buildout, but is still hoping to get $228 million from the federal government through the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment Program, which the Trump administration has also threatened to eliminate.
Vermont’s final push to connect the most rural addresses is very expensive, and so even though well more than half of the money has been used, the last chunk of federal money is needed to connect the final and most expensive addresses.
“Our state and country have made this unprecedented investment in broadband infrastructure,” Hallquist said in a press release. “Now we need to maximize the social impact of that investment and make sure everyone can benefit from the power broadband has to enhance and transform lives.”
Watson said the board expects to continue meeting with Vermonters, and then publish a report in the late summer outlining the needs across the state.
For more information on the plan, or to find out about how you can take part in the information gathering, go to the VCBB website.
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