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State Funded Fiber Optic Line Nears Completion In Orange County

According to the Vermont Telecommunications Authority (VTA), cable for more than 32 miles of the 36 mile Orange County Fiber Connector has been hung on utility poles, and seven miles of the system is already active. 

The VTA says the entire line should be active by year’s end. 

ECFiber Network and Fairpoint Communications have lease agreements with the state to use the line to provide service to customers along sections of Vermont Routes 110, 113 and 132 in the Towns of Chelsea, Vershire, West Fairlee, Thetford, Strafford, and Sharon. 

The route includes what the VTA considers “significant concentrations” of unserved homes and businesses.

The fiber can also be used by cellular phone service carriers.

The system was built using $930,000 of state money authorized by the legislature.

Steve has been with VPR since 1994, first serving as host of VPR’s public affairs program and then as a reporter, based in Central Vermont. Many VPR listeners recognize Steve for his special reports from Iran, providing a glimpse of this country that is usually hidden from the rest of the world. Prior to working with VPR, Steve served as program director for WNCS for 17 years, and also worked as news director for WCVR in Randolph. A graduate of Northern Arizona University, Steve also worked for stations in Phoenix and Tucson before moving to Vermont in 1972. Steve has been honored multiple times with national and regional Edward R. Murrow Awards for his VPR reporting, including a 2011 win for best documentary for his report, Afghanistan's Other War.
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