Nearly four years after receiving an $81 million federal Rural Utilities Service (RUS) broadband stimulus grant and a $35 million government loan, VTel has officially launched a high speed wireless broadband system that will eventually cover nearly all of Vermont.
An event marking the launch took place Tuesday under under a large white tent on a field just outside of Hardwick.
There, an array of demonstrations was set up to demonstrate VTel's Wireless Open World system, which company President Michel Guite says is unique among rural broadband systems in America.
Guite says the system will deliver download speeds in some locations that exceed what customers are receiving from other Vermont service providers.
Guite says higher speeds available elsewhere are cost prohibitive for customers.
“This is really the fastest Internet anywhere in the state of Vermont on any technology and its over wireless,” he said.
The Springfield-based company is offering wireless high speed service to 20,000 customers initially, including those in the Hardwick area. The company says speed is only one factor differentiating the system from those offered by national mobile broadband providers.
Vtel’s wireless system will have higher download limits at lower prices. The company's top tier package will cost $90 per month for unlimited data and 50 gigabytes of downloads.
The lowest monthly fee is $10 for one gigabyte. The company says all of its plans include two terabytes of free online storage. Customers will not be required to sign contracts, but will have to purchase equipment. The equipment can also be used to access other mobile broadband networks.
Karen Holmes of Hardwick was one of a group of people who tested the system for several weeks before it went public. She plans to become a paying customer.
“It’s been a great experience. We stream all of our TV, videos, we do everything through the Internet,” Holmes said.
Paul Fixx, a computer repairman in Hardwick, also tested VTel’s wireless system and compared it to his previous cable and DSL broadband.
“I would say of the services I’ve used this is probably the one I’m happiest with. There have been some issues I’ve had, but they’ve been working on it pretty consistently,” said Fixx.
A demonstration of the Hardwick system showed download speeds of nearly 35 megabits per second (mbps). VTel says average speeds are in the 15 to 20 mbps range, with peak speeds of 50 mbps.
Upload speeds are generally one-third as fast.
Those speeds are not as fast as those currently advertised by cable and fiber broadband providers, but VTel says beginning next year some locations will have access to wireless broadband at much higher speeds and lower costs. The company says speeds of 100 mbps and higher will be available on both fixed and mobile devices in select towns by the end of 2014.
There are about 300,000 business and residential locations in Vermont. Diane Guite of VTel says by this time next year most will have access to the company’s wireless broadband.
“The assignment in our RUS award was to cover about 65,000 911 addresses," says Guite. "We think by the time we’re done with the project we’ll probably be covering about 96 or 97 percent of the whole state.”
Guite says as the wireless system expands, mobile broadband will become increasingly available to customers. Once completed, the system will be accessible through 169 tower sites. VTel says more towers will be brought online each week between now and the summer of 2015.
VTel’s federal award was for both the statewide wireless broadband network and a fiber-to-home system in southern Vermont. The company has already run fiber to 4,000 of the 16,000 locations called for in the grant.
The original deadline for the grant projects was at the end of 2013. But Diane Guite says VTel and providers around the country experienced delays. As a result, the federal government extended the deadline for projects to be completed to the middle of 2015.
(In addition to Hardwick, VTel’s wireless broadband is also currently available in areas of Barnet, Berlin, Cavendish, Dorset, Fairlee, Georgia, Grand Isle, Manchester, Milton, Barre, North Hero, Peacham, Reading, Rupert, St. Albans, Sheldon, South Hero, Swanton, Walden, Weathersfield, West Windsor, Windsor, Winhall and Woodbury.)
