Spools of fiber optic cable. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger This story by Aaron Calvin was first published in News Citizen on Dec. 11, 2025. The Lamoille FiberNet communications union district announced last week that it had reached its goal of ensuring every on-grid address within Lam oille County has access to at least one high-speed internet provider. Over two summers of construction, workers laid 550 miles of fiber, and multi-gigabit-capable service is now available to 5,000 unserved or underserved addresses across the county, according to a press release from the district. READ MORE This feat was achieved through a $24 million public-private partnership with Fidium Fiber, now fully retiring the Consolidated Communications brand, announced in fall 2023. The process began a decade ago with the creation of communications union districts across the state, but the project of universal internet access only got off the ground after millions of dollars in American Rescue Plan Act funding flowed into the state during Joe Biden’s presidency. Although Lamoille FiberNet initially struggled to get off the ground after a proposed partnership with Google fell through, the Fidium partnership, executed by director Lisa Birmingham in consultation with representatives from all of Lamoille County’s ten towns, took advantage of the communication company’s access to the power line infrastructure, which helped ensure the project could be executed relatively swiftly. The two-year project completed its first and most extensive build-out last fall, and officials celebrated the new “gig towns” of Lamoille County at Vermont State University’s Johnson campus. A year later, all that was left was to deploy the remaining fiber optic cable. The communications district will now take on the role of oversight and maintenance for the infrastructure that’s been built. Sam Lotto, the Cambridge representative to the Lamoille FiberNet communications union district, cuts the ribbon along with other town representatives and Vermont Community Broadband Board director Christine Hallquist, far left, to proclaim all 10 Lamoille County towns “gig towns” at Vermont State University-Johnson. Photo by Aaron Calvin/News Citizen “This achievement represents years of collaboration, persistence, and smart partnership,” Andrew Ross, Lamoille FiberNet chair and Wolcott representative to the board, wrote in a statement. “Our shared goal was simple but ambitious: to make sure every home and business in our territory could connect to reliable, affordable, high-speed internet.” Offset by grant funding and innovative construction methods, the project was completed under budget and allowed the communications union district to return some of its funding back to the Vermont Community Broadband Board, which has overseen and distributed funding to the effort to get every address in the state high-speed internet. Lamoille FiberNet’s success is part of efforts to expand internet access across the state. According to broadband board director Christine Hallquist, only 21% of Vermonters had access to fiber-optic internet in 2021, when she was appointed by Gov. Phil Scott. That amount is now up to 72%, with plans to quickly close the gap. There are about 300 addresses in Lamoille County where the broadband board plans to provide high-speed internet access through its “broadband equity, access, and deployment,” or BEAD, program. “Our focus over the next year at the Vermont community broadband board is to look at every single location in the state to ensure that nobody’s been overlooked,” Hallquist said. Hallquist said Consolidated Communications had previously cultivated a reputation for poor service due to the inadequacy of its copper wire infrastructure. Fiber-optic cable, she promised, allows for improved internet access quality in the Fidium era. The Trump administration’s Federal Communications Commission has departed from the previous administration’s support for fiber optics and instead adopted a policy of encouraging the use of Starlink satellite internet, which is owned by billionaire Trump donor and occasional cabinet member Elon Musk. In March, National Public Radio reported that changes to the BEAD program encouraged the use of federal funds to pay for the adoption of such technology. Hallquist and the board continue to argue that the BEAD program should be used to bring fiber-optic cable to Vermont’s remaining unserved addresses, arguing that a state as forested as Vermont makes satellite internet ineffective. “Tree cover in these tight valleys means satellite is not a viable alternative to try to get everybody served in Vermont,” Hallquist said. “It’s better than nothing, but it doesn’t compare to fiber.” Read the story on VTDigger here: Lamoille FiberNet finishes county-wide internet build-out. ...read more read less