Sovernet Communications, a middle mile provider serving Vermont communities, continues to attract more of the state's rural providers and even Tier 1 wireless operators to use its network, enhancing how they serve their residential and business customers.
The service provider gained prominence in the rural middle mile market when it won a $33.4 million middle mile federal broadband stimulus grant from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) in 2010.
Leveraging a mix of NTIA proceeds from the grant and $12 million of its own capital along with additional funding from the state of Vermont, Sovernet now provides a mix of fiber-based voice, data and Internet services to over 300 community institutions.
The company's customer list includes a host of public libraries, schools and colleges, healthcare facilities and hospitals, municipal and state government offices, and other service providers throughout Vermont.
Sovernet's fiber services are also attracting Tier 1 wireless operators who use the network to backhaul 4G LTE traffic.
Sharon Combes-Farr, director of marketing for Sovernet, told the Brattleboro Reformer that an unnamed Tier 1 wireless operator is using Sovernet's fiber facilities to backhaul wireless traffic on two wireless towers going up in Brattleboro and Newfane, Vermont.
The network has also continued to attract Vermont-based rural providers. Some of the service providers that have continued to take advantage of Sovernet's middle mile network are Wilmington, Vermont-based Duncan Cable TV and South Royalton, Vermont-based EC Fiber.
Cliff Duncan, president of Duncan Cable TV, said that during the course of its 17-year relationship Sovernet's middle mile network "has been extremely important to our success with our broadband products," which the operator has recently expanded to offer customers FTTH options.
Likewise, ValleyNet, the operating organization for ECFiber, which recently announced plans to run fiber for broadband services throughout Barnard, Thetford, Strafford, West Windsor, Pomfret and Pittsfield, Vermont, is finding Sovernet a key transport tool for its FTTH network. Sovernet provides transport for ECFiber to reach customers in West Windsor.
For more:
- see the release
- Brattleboro Reformer has this article
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