The Vermont Community Broadband Board is holding a series of listening sessions to gather public input to develop a statewide internet access plan. The meetings are asking Vermonters what barriers they encounter when trying to access broadband services.
The Broadband Board was created by an act of the Vermont Legislature “to coordinate, facilitate, support, and accelerate the development and implementation of universal community broadband solutions.”
Quechee area resident Rob Blish said he joined the session for the same reason the board members were there.
“Why are folks not able to connect?" asks Blish. "In Quechee my experience was I had DSL. And even though fiber was actually run down the road, the main road Route 4, there was only these three houses on my road so we didn’t have cable. I didn’t have cable or broadband. I had to do, like I said, the DSL. And for a long time we had the MiFi, the jetpack. That’s how we connected.”
Broadband Board Digital Equity Officer Britaney Watson explained that part of the intent of the meeting was to explain digital equity.
“So digital equity means that all individuals in communities have the information technology capacity that is needed for full participation in the society and the economy of the United States," cites Watson. "For many Vermonters internet access is a privilege, not a given, leaving a lot of Vermonters without access to meeting their needs. So the digital equity focus is primarily on three barriers: access, affordability and skills where Vermonters do not have the skills or confidence to be online safely.”
The Board is working in two phases to address the challenges. Watson says they are currently in the planning phase, gathering information from Vermonters and other data to draft a state Digital Equity Plan.
“This plan’s main goal is to have all Vermonters connected to the internet at affordable rates with devices to meet their needs and feeling confident in being online safely.”
Shanna O’Berry of Woodstock told the board she left Vermont for a time because the internet was so slow she couldn’t work remotely. But she’s back with a slightly more stable connection.
“Making a phone call, any work call, is really challenging. It breaks up all the time," says O'Berry. "I think it’s just because I’m further away from the connectivity. Internet gets dropped. Calls get dropped because I’m relying on unstable internet. If I’m moving around a call gets dropped and so I have to be in one very specific spot for meetings. I would say that’s probably more of what I’m dealing with these days.”
Watson asked participants for input on what devices they use to connect to the internet, what programs the state has that help them connect and what educational programs should be offered. O’Berry outlined a number of items, including affordability.
"Talk with people about like what are you actually spending money on and what do you need and what can you eliminate. And then I think just getting people connected to different services like streaming services and how that might be cheaper and just understanding like how they can log on and what’s out there," suggests O'Berry. "Like okay you like a certain type of show? You need one streaming service and it’s $12 a month versus whatever you’re paying for cable, versus whatever you’re paying for satellite. I think it’s just educating older people on the newer technology that they haven’t had access to and hadn’t needed to learn. And just really sitting down with them and understanding their needs and saying well this is out there for you and it’s really affordable.”
Blish added that people need to be aware of the internet’s practical uses for jobs, telemedicine and other services.
“Telemedicine a lot of folks they obviously know that it probably exists, but in order to have the skills to make it happen for them, that might be something to include in whatever educational offerings you come up with.”
Broadband Board Communications and Outreach Manager Herryn Herzog noted while they are beginning work on digital equity issues, there been other meetings focused on the state’s BEAD, or Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment, program.
"We’re focusing on digital equity now. But BEAD is digital equity and building infrastructure and tying all of it together,"says Herzog.
"We heard that the internet is just too expensive. It’s too slow, that customer service isn’t good. Those are the main things that we heard. So we’re trying to drill down on equity specifically. But a lot of those things play into each other, affordability especially. And service. I just don’t have service. My neighbors have service. I don’t have service. When is it coming?”
The next virtual session is scheduled for Thursday, November 30th.
