The state has decided to give up on CoverageCo, the troubled cell service company that abruptly began turning off its network earlier this year.CoverageCo had a contract with the state to run a wireless network of cell phone antennas that served rural communities in southern and central Vermont.
The company sent the Department of Public Service a financial plan in late June as it tried to make a case for why it should be allowed to continue running the system.
But Public Service Commissioner June Tierney sent out a letter to legislative leaders Thursday explaining that the state did not have faith in the company’s ability to continue fulfilling its obligations.
"After giving CoverageCo a fair opportunity to demonstrate its ability to meet its contractual obligations to the state, I made the decision to terminate our master lease agreements with CoverageCo,” Tierney wrote. “On August 22nd, I sent CoverageCo notices terminating the three master lease agreements with the company.”
Clay Purvis, director of the Vermont Department of Public Service's telecommunications and connectivity division, said a business plan that the company submitted to the department failed to convince officials that CoverageCo could continue operating a rural cell phone network owned by the state.
"CoverageCo did not provide the information that we were looking for, so we made a decision that we would move forward without CoverageCo," Purvis said.
The Department of Public Service will now seek another company to operate the system.
Rep. Laura Sibilia serves a number of communities in southern Vermont that have come to rely on the CoverageCo network for E911 service.
And Sibilia said that while she's happy the state is finally cutting its ties with the company, she's concerned about what the next steps might be.
"The critical infrastructure needs for connectivity in rural Vermont are not being adequately met by the marketplace or the private sector," Sibilia said in an email. "In some rural areas we are even seeing deterioration of existing critical infrastructure - never mind a lack of investment in new infrastructure. The CoverageCo shutdown increased the vulnerability of some rural Vermonters. I hope we have not missed the weather window for repairing, replacing and building out this project this fall."
Update 3:14 p.m. This post was updated with comments from Purvis and Sibilia.
