FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
“Town of Springfield Named First Gig-Certified Smart Rural Community Recipient in Vermont by VTel and NTCA”
Springfield, Vermont, May 1, 2024 – The town of Springfield, Vermont, is recognized as a Smart Rural Community (“SRC”) by Vermont Telephone Company (“VTel”), in association with NTCA – The Rural Broadband Association representing more than 850 independent, family-owned and community-based broadband companies. This prestigious recognition marks Springfield as the first town in Vermont to be chosen as a Gig-Certified Smart Rural Community.
A Smart Rural Community designation recognizes towns like Springfield among a national network of communities powered by innovative SRC broadband providers such as VTel. SRC providers are NTCA-vetted fiber-based broadband providers committed to driving growth, creating opportunities, and building a brighter future for small-town America by delivering high-speed broadband to the farthest reaches of the country. The national SRC program promotes rural broadband and its role in supporting innovative economic development, effective education, efficient energy distribution and use, state-of-the-art health care and other important issues for rural America.
Local fiber provider, VTel powers a Springfield-based powerful 10 Gigabit Internet network serving 14 rural southern Vermont communities. Certified by NTCA as a Gig-Certified Smart Rural Community Provider, VTel provides 99% of the town’s addresses, both residential and business, with a minimum connection of 1,000 Mbps (and up to 10G) over active optical fiber — 10 times faster than the average Vermont Internet connection and more than 40 times faster than a standard broadband connection (defined as 25 Mbps/3Mbps). Among the most robust fiber networks in the country, VTel’s broadband connectivity has earned Springfield, among several other VTel-served towns, national recognitions as one of the top 50 work-from-home locations in the country.
“VTel is proud to recognize Springfield, Vermont as one of our state’s rising stars – with a strong dedication to local community, economic progress, and an openness to change, Springfield is shining bright as Vermont’s prize technological hub. As a local business ourselves, we couldn’t be prouder to see Springfield continuing to attract smart entrepreneurs and developers looking to invest resources locally, made possible by our fastest-in-Vermont technology, as well as the dedicated members of our community leading innovation in our hometown.” stated Amber Wilson, Director of Customer Care, VTel.
For more information, contact Andrea Spaans at spaansa@vermontel.com or 802-885-7788.
About VTel:
Vermont Telephone Company, Inc., Springfield, VT, known locally as VTel, is a small family-owned rural telephone company providing landline service to 14 Vermont villages, as well as 4G LTE wireless service to thousands of homes throughout rural parts of the state. Some southern Vermont farms and families have received continuous telephone service from VTel’s network since 1890, and VTel provided the phone line that enabled Calvin Coolidge to be sworn in as US President, at Plymouth Notch, VT, on August 3, 1923. VTel was first in Vermont to offer Internet in 1995, first in Vermont to build gigabit-per-second internet over fiber to homes in 2001, and first in America to build a 100% 4G LTE wireless network. VTel’s 1,400 mile optical fiber network from Vermont to New York, Boston, and Montreal, proudly serves some of the most distinguished universities and research institutions in the world including Dartmouth, and MIT. The company has answered over a million customer phone calls on the first ring during the past decade, and its longtime motto is World Class Technology with Down Home Service.
About NTCA – The Rural Broadband Association:
NTCA – The Rural Broadband Association is the premier association representing nearly 850 independent, community-based telecommunications companies that are leading innovation in rural and small-town America. NTCA advocates on behalf of its members in the legislative and regulatory arenas, and it provides training and development; publications and industry events; and an array of employee benefit programs.