Broadband Loan Program
In 2019, the Vermont State Legislature enacted Act 79 relating to the deployment of broadband service throughout Vermont and the critical need to expand broadband to make it available to as many underserved residents and businesses as possible. The Act created Subchapter 14 of VEDA’s statute to enable the Authority to make loans that expand broadband service.
The first provider to be supported through VEDA’s Broadband Loan program, Mansfield Community Fiber (MCF), is bringing a fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) network to customers in the town of Fairfax. The project spans approximately 39 miles and will offer high-speed internet to 507 households and businesses who previously couldn’t access broadband internet. MCF was founded in 2016 by Tim and Leslie Nulty, together with a group of 10 partners from the local area. They began offering its first broadband internet service in Underhill.
It currently serves over 100 customers and after this project, will have built over 80 miles of fiber network, passing over 1,000 premises. The majority of the network will be built by the end of 2020, with full project completion in 2021.
