Press Room on East Central Vermont Telecommunications District

Recharged ECFiber Receives Grant For Underground Installation In Its Towns

Thu, 30 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

By Justin Bigos — The Vermont Standard

ECFiber — the trade name for the internet broadband network owned by the East Central Vermont Telecommunications District — has received a $3 million “Affordable Long Drop Program” grant from the Vermont Community Broadband Board (VCBB) to help with the costs of nonstandard fiber installation for 1,000 eligible customers in its service area of 31 towns. The grant was made available in April and will expire on Sept. 30.

ECFiber Expects Grant To Help Go Underground

Thu, 14 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

By Darren Marcy — The White River Valley Herald

ECFiber is working to connect people who have not been able to afford to sign up with the internet company, thanks to an anticipated $3 million grant.

ECFiber is expecting the grant to subsidize long and complex connections in ECFiber’s coverage area.

District Chair Addresses Concerns Related to Operational Transition

Tue, 18 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

District Chair F. X. Flinn responds to concerns about what to expect on January 1.

If the video does not load, watch it on Google Drive.

Key points:

The network is designed for reliable operation without manual intervention.
Internet and phone services will continue uninterrupted through the management transition.
All network infrastructure, software systems, and operational processes remain in place and under the ownership of the district; ownership is not changing.
Maintenance partnerships and outage-response arrangements remain fully active.
Staff will be available during and after the transition to answer calls and address repairs.

ECFiber Board Chief Says VISPO Is Ready

Thu, 02 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

By Darren Marcy — The White River Valley Herald

The chair of the governing board of ECFiber said Monday it is ready to take over operations of the telecommunications district.

East Central Vermont Telecommunications District, which does business as ECFiber, formed the Vermont ISP Operating Company, or VISPO, as a nonprofit to take over its operations from Great Works Internet at the end of its current contract, which ends December 31.

The ECFiber Case: Point-Counterpoint

Thu, 04 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

By Tom Ayres

ECFiber board chair F.X. Flinn and GWI’s northeast division president Tom Cecere explain the key points of contention in the ongoing dispute over the operating contract and transition to a new operator.

The article provides a detailed discussion between the ECFiber board chair and GWI’s northeast division president regarding the contract dispute and planned transition to Vermont ISP Operating Company (VISPO).

Judge's Ruling Ensures Some Vermont Residents Won't Face Internet Outage

Thu, 14 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

WASHINGTON, August 13, 2025 – A federal judge issued a ruling Monday that she said would prevent thousands of rural Vermonters from facing internet outages over a contract dispute.

Great Works Internet, or GWI, has been disputing a coalition of Vermont towns’ plan for transitioning their fiber network to a new nonprofit operator started by coalition board members, arguing in court that it isn’t obligated by its current contract to help the nonprofit. There’s bad blood between GWI and the coalition, which for months have been locked in legal battles around the plan to ditch GWI.

Federal Court Sides with ECFiber against GWI

Tue, 12 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

August 12, 2025

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Federal Court Sides with ECFiber against GWI

Rutland, August 11: U.S. District Court Judge Mary Kay Lanthier ordered GWI to cease efforts to frustrate ECFiber’s transition to a new operator and to follow the Governing Board’s Transition Policy. In her Order Granting East Central Vermont Telecommunications District’s Motion for Preliminary Injunction, the judge found the Transition Policy to have been properly adopted under the terms of the Operating Agreement between the District and GWI, and that GWI’s failure to participate in a transition process was likely to create irreparable harm to ECFiber customers without injunctive relief.

ECFiber Locked in Legal, PR Battle with Its Operating Firm

Thu, 17 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Original Article: https://thevermontstandard.com/ecfiber-locked-in-legal-pr-battle-with-its-operating-firm/

A legal battle over the operating contract for the ECFiber internet service provider (ISP) network — the state’s oldest communication union district — has been playing itself out in the U.S. District Court in Burlington since March 25, when the Vermont-based ISP’s current operator, the Maine-based Biddeford Internet Corp, also known as Great Works Internet (GWI), filed suit against F.X. Flinn of Quechee, the chair of ECFiber’s governing board, accusing Flinn of trying to “poach” GWI’s business in the more than 30 municipalities it serves.

Response to GWI "Open Letter"

Tue, 15 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

On July 14th the outgoing operator of ECFiber, GWI, addressed an “Open Letter” distributed to officials and residents of our member towns. Read our response below. Both documents are also available as PDFs: ECVTD Response | GWI Open Letter

In Response to GWI’s Unsigned Open Letter

On Monday July 14, an unsigned letter from GWI was sent to ECFiber member town selectpersons and the press by GWI’s media relations and state government lobbying firm. The unsigned letter seeks to instill fear, uncertainty, and doubt within our community. GWI has already attempted to do this with ECFiber Governing Board members, ECFiber bond bankers and bond holders, and state broadband officials. They have not succeeded. Now they turn to you.

ECFiber's Operating Company Names New CEO

Thu, 26 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

South Royalton VT: ECFiber, the internet service provider (ISP) created in 2008 by a grass-roots effort to solve the problem of broadband availability in rural Vermont, is pleased to announce that its new operator, the Vermont ISP Operating Company (VISPO) has named Gopi Sundaram as Chief Executive Officer.

Mr. Sundaram, a graduate of Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business, has had a long career in the ISP industry, notably as Managing Director with the Tetrad McCourt consortium, the investor group which led Ireland’s National Broadband Plan. He currently is a managing partner at Radius Capital Partners, a firm specializing in rural broadband investments. “My family and I are very happy to be returning to the Upper Valley. The opportunity to lead one of the most inspiring businesses in the industry is exciting. ECFiber literally invented the Vermont Communications Union District (CUD) model for delivering world-class broadband to rural towns that were otherwise being ignored by cable companies, and it did it without grants or taxes.”

Monumental Milestone: 23 Original Member Towns Completed

Tue, 27 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Your very own ECFiber continues to appear in several regional news outlets after celebrating lighting the last of our 23 original member towns yesterday; a feat well over a decade in the making! The overwhelmingly positive show of support from politicians and the general public was truly remarkable.

“By banding together on a community basis and using a form of self-government, the Communication Union District, to manage it, we were able to raise the money to do it. We can operate the business, we can pay the employees well, we can pay off the money we’ve been borrowing,” says ECFiber Board Chair, F.X. Flinn

ValleyNet Transfers Operating to GWI

Tue, 31 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Royalton, Vermont- ValleyNet proudly announced today that they have transferred all of their staff and operating responsibilities to GWI Vermont in an undertaking that was years in the making. The recently formed GWI Vermont is a subsidiary of Biddeford Internet Corporation, d.b.a GWI. GWI, based out of Biddeford, Maine, founded in 1994, is a benefit corporation and was the nation’s first B Corporation Certified broadband carrier. ValleyNet is an Internet Service Provider (ISP) founded in Vermont as a non-profit in 1994 and has operated ECFiber since 2008. In 2020, ValleyNet expanded fiber operations in Lyme, New Hampshire, in partnership with LymeFiber. ECFiber created the blueprint for Vermont’s communication union districts (CUDs), which are now the centerpiece of the state’s strategy for solving the rural broadband crisis. GWI Vermont will continue to maintain and build upon the standards for this model with the transfer of operations. The GWI/ValleyNet partnership originally began in 2020 when GWI became the chosen ValleyNet phone provider. This partnership deepened in June of 2022 when Valleynet announced a restructuring of its management, design, build, and operating services in an expanded partnership with GWI. Moving forward, GWI and subsequently GWI Vermont’s tenured knowledge and dedication to operations and support will continue to grow and improve all facets of the ECFiber customer experience.

ECFiber Secures $11.8M in New Funding to Accelerate Work in 31 Member Towns

Wed, 01 Dec 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Royalton December 1

ECFiber announced today it has placed $9 million of new municipal revenue bonds at an average interest rate of 4.48% and average maturity of 21 years. This brings ECFiber’s total bond commitments to $63.3 million with about 70% of its network constructed. Last week, the Vermont Community Broadband Board (VCBB) approved the municipally-owned broadband provider’s $2.8 million grant application for pre-construction expenses. With over 6,700 customers in 23 towns, ECFiber continues to show the way forward as Vermont’s first communications union district (CUD).

Response to Vermont Senate Finance Committee Regarding ECFiber's Financial Strength and History

Thu, 15 Apr 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Written Testimony of Stan Williams to Senate Finance Committee Regarding ECFiber’s Financial Strength and History, presented April 15, 2021. Read more

ECFiber Plans 2021 Expansion in New Towns

Wed, 21 Oct 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Royalton, VT: October 21, 2020 ECFiber will build over 160 miles of fiber‐optic network in towns of Bradford, Corinth, Fairlee, West Fairlee and Windsor in 2021, according to a proposed budget released to its member towns this week. The budget also provides funding for 75 miles of network in Hartford and 40 miles of construction in existing towns to meet increased demand. ECFiber Chairman F.X. Flinn commented, “The pandemic has made it crystal clear to everyone that rural Vermont needs access to world‐class broadband. ECFiber’s approach is the only real solution to meet those needs. That’s why seven towns joined ECFiber this year. That’s why eight new districts like ECFiber have been established in Vermont this year. Next construction season, we are going to start delivering in those new towns ‐‐ and we are not spending taxpayers money to do this.” The East Central Vermont Telecommunications District, which does business as ECFiber, sent its annual report and proposed budget to the selectboards of its 30 member towns this week and announced plans for an electronic public hearing on the proposed budget on Tuesday, November 10th, at 7pm. The budget, with any changes, will be formally adopted at the December 8th meeting. Included in the materials is a chart showing planned construction for the next 3 years, along with notes indicating that the towns of Newbury, Topsham, and Washington, which also joined the district this year, may see some construction next year. The local electricity utility, Washington Electric Cooperative (WEC), is in discussions with ECFiber, and its operating partner, ValleyNet, regarding this possibility. ValleyNet, a non‐profit organization and the Upper Valley’s first internet service provider, was instrumental in creating ECFiber and has proven it is possible to deliver world class broadband to rural Vermont in a cost‐effective manner without putting any burden on taxpayers. As Vermont’s first communications union district (CUD), the effort is funded entirely by customer revenues, which back tax‐free municipal bonds issued by the district. To date the district has borrowed over $41 million and plans an additional bond offering for over $11 million in December. Chris Recchia, ValleyNet’s Managing Director and head of ECFiber’s day to day business, noted, “We are excited to be closing in on completing construction in our original member towns where there is no access to cable internet. This opens the door to a rapid build out of similar areas in our new towns. Our website is ready to start taking signups and I encourage residents in our new towns to do that now. The more advance planning we can do the faster we will be able to turn them into customers.” ECFiber delivers internet via fiber‐to‐the‐premises (FTTP), where fiber‐optic cable is used to provide equal speed for uploads and downloads, called symmetrical service. This results in smoother online meetings, effortless video streaming and the ability to use WiFi calling on mobile phones. Each connection is independent, so everyone in a neighborhood can be using the service without impacting others. Presently ECFiber offers speeds of 25/25, 100/100, 300/300 and 800/800 mbps download/upload, plus a phone service option, and has over 5,200 customers. When fully built in all 30 member towns nearly 31,500 premises will be able to access world‐class broadband.

ECFiber Celebrates Connecting Its 2000th Customer

Wed, 11 Oct 2017 00:00:00 +0000

Royalton, Vermont – October 11, 2017 When local residents began planning to build their own high-speed fiber-optic network back in 2007, few expected them to be able to surmount the many challenges facing a high-tech start-up.

As of October 2017, the East Central Vermont Telecommunications District (ECFiber) has built over 420 miles of cable and connected over 2,000 active customers in parts of 20 member towns. It plans to complete another 170 miles of network this year and another 250 miles in 2018.

ECFiber to Fully Finish Six Towns with High-Speed Fiber-Optic Internet in 2017; Several More Communities Planned for 2018

Wed, 03 May 2017 00:00:00 +0000

Royalton, VT – May 3, 2017

The East Central Vermont Telecommunications District (“ECFiber”) has completed a $14.5M revenue bond financing to complete its construction providing universal broadband coverage for 6 entire towns – Pittsfield, West Windsor, Pomfret, Barnard, Strafford and Thetford. The $14.5M financing will also allow ECFiber to begin the process to cover several additional towns (350 miles) in 2018, refinance higher cost debt, and connect over 800 subscribers in 2017.

ECFiber Hooks Up 1st Customer

Fri, 26 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +0000

BARNARD — A consortium of 23 mostly-rural Vermont towns formed to provide high-speed Internet access to underserved areas has hooked up its first customer. On Wednesday, the East Central Vermont Community Fiber Network, known more commonly as ECFiber, hooked up a high-speed Internet connection for Barnard resident Gretchen Wilson. ECFiber has been working for years to bring high-speed Internet to the area. The company recently began testing eight beta sites, including the Barnard General Store. Wilson told WCAX-TV that having high-speed Internet access is exciting for her and the rest of the town.