Dear Editor, The“broadband bill�passed the House by a 132-2 vote. The Senate Economic Development Committee headed by Sen. Illuzzi has heard testimony for over a week on the issue of cell and Internet access in every part of Addison County and the State by 2010 (H.248). Discussion has been intense; many changes have been proposed. This is the way the process is supposed to work and we thank the Committee for its hard work on this important social and economic development issue and hope that it is approved by them next week.

The bill is also being considered in other Senate committees including Natural Resources.

The nonpartisan, volunteer,Internet for ALL, NOW! Committee is however still concerned. The session is beginning to wind down. Several bills have been put aside for consideration next year and a few have died. This bill, thanks to the people who have signed our petition and written their legislators and the many supporting editorials, is now considered popular. It is therefore attracting more attention and amendments and will require extra work by the legislature at a time when they are eager to wrap up the session. We encourage Vermonters to keep up their letters and emails to legislators and to continue spreading the word to friends about the e-petition by putting http://www.e-state-vermont.com/petition.php in their browser’s window and entering their name and town. Don’t let legislators feel that it is ok to put off getting us all Internet access for another year.

In addition to just getting the bill passed this year so that work can get started, there are a few other concerns. One of the issues in flux is exactly how the Board of the Transportation Authority will be chosen and who will do the choosing. There’s no one right answer but it is essential that the Board members collectively have the business and/or technical skills necessary to guide this complex and ambitious task and that appointments NOT be political.

The Board will also need to have discretion to request bonding for the projects it and its consulting experts feel are needed to get us all access by 2010 in the most economic, efficient, and environmentally responsible way; we feel it would be a mistake for the legislature to be overly explicit in specifying the means to reach the desired end. The bill additionally calls for some new regulatory flexibility to allow the Authority and others who are investing in cell and Internet services in Vermont to be able to plan whole networks at a time and to get speedy review of these plans. If this flexibility is lost, many Vermonters will find themselves further behind the rest of the country and the rest of the world.
David Zahn