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FAIRband Committee and Topsham Communications Announce Completion of West Fairlee Fiber-to-the-Home Project

Release Date: 
March 22, 2011 - 11:15am

Montpelier — The FAIRband Committee announced the completion of Phase I of a fiber-to-the-home (“FTTH”) deployment in West Fairlee by Topsham Communications. On February 21, the West Fairlee Selectboard received a final inspection report on the fiber network installation and voted to release grant funds for the project that were held in escrow. With completion of this phase of the project, residents and businesses along an approximate eight mile route now have access to broadband service in West Fairlee. The FAIRband Committee sought the grant funds to bolster business development and attract and retain families in the community of 739.

John Benjamin, Chairman of the FAIRband Committee wrote, “There is no way that we could have introduced a FTTH network without the assistance of the VTA Broadband Demonstration Grant and the technical expertise of Charlie Davenport, General Manager of Topsham Telephone Company and Topsham Communications”.

Christopher Campbell, Executive Director of the VTA said today, “Topsham Communications and FAIRband presented the VTA with a terrific opportunity to fund service to an unserved area of Vermont. This is a great example of collaboration between a local community and a local broadband service provider to introduce a high-quality fiber optic network to homes and businesses in rural Vermont.”

In 2008, the VTA awarded the town of West Fairlee $50,000 in support of the project. Topsham Communications agreed to match the VTA’s Community Broadband Grant funds, dollar for dollar,
for deployment of nearly eight miles of fiber optic cable. The new deployment leverages existing communications facilities owned and operated by Topsham Telephone Company, a local company that has been in operation for over 100 years. Mr. Benjamin said that Topsham Communications went well beyond its original agreement in order to ensure the successful completion of Phase I. Mr. Davenport commented, “What a great opportunity this was for a small telecommunications company to partner with a rural community to bring state-of-the-art fiber technology into their homes. This never would have been accomplished without help from the VTA.” The FAIRband Committee and Topsham Communications continue to seek additional grants and funding sources to complete Phase II that would expand the fiber network throughout remaining underserved areas of West Fairlee.

The FAIRband Committee represents three towns in the Rivendell Interstate School District. The Committee’s goal is to connect member towns to enable Rivendell students to complete research and homework assignments on equal footing. Presently, most of Fairlee, Vermont and Orford, New Hampshire, and a portion of West Fairlee are connected via Topsham Communications’ fiber optic network.