Vermont broadband board says BEAD award unlocks $93M for deployment; overall allocation listed at $228.9M

Christina Sweet, director of regulatory compliance at the Vermont Community Broadband Board (VCBB), told the Senate Appropriations Committee on Feb. 18 that since Act 71 established the board in 2021 the state has made substantial progress toward universal reliable broadband.

"At that point, 21% of locations or addresses across the state were defined as unserved or underserved," Sweet said. "And today, in 2026, less than 1% of those locations either have access or there is a plan to provide them with access." Christine Hockless, VCBB executive director, clarified the metrics, saying fiber access rose from about 30% in 2021 to 72% as of July 1 and that less than 5% of locations are now underserved.

VCBB staff described recent federal funding shifts: an NTIA digital equity planning grant (~$518,000) completed, a subsequent $5.3 million digital equity capacity award that was later canceled nationwide, and a NTIA restructuring requirement that forced Vermont to re-run a subrecipient selection using technology‑neutral language. Sweet said that process is complete and VCBB will soon be able to execute subgrantee agreements.

Sweet and Hockless summarized the federal BEAD/BEED program and Vermont's award: the national program is roughly $42.5 billion and the VCBB received final-proposal approval unlocking about $93 million for infrastructure deployment. "Our overall grant... is 228,900,000.0. That is our overall allocation under the BEED," Sweet said, describing additional planning funds and anticipated non‑deployment funds that VCBB plans to use for workforce development, resilience/redundancy and economic development activities.

VCBB described several program details: the federal baseline broadband definition (100 Mbps download / 20 Mbps upload), an 'affordable long‑drop' program addressing high per‑customer connection costs, a pilot device donation and refurbishment program (20 devices donated by the United Way), and use of Starlink (SpaceX) as the only operational LEO satellite provider among applicants. Staff pointed members to the VCBB ArcGIS hub and to local Communications Union Districts (CUDs) for maps and location‑level timelines.

JB Ladoux, VCBB financial manager, outlined the FY27 budget for the broadband board and said the request uses special and federal funds (no general fund request), with most changes reflecting reclassification of expenses and expected personnel/cost increases tied to BEAD work. Ladoux said the board's FY27 request is roughly $719,000 over the governor's recommended target and that most line‑item increases are personnel and contractor costs tied to BEAD implementation.

VCBB staff said they expect a roughly four‑year construction buildout for many BEAD-funded deployments and that the BEAD notice of award timelines extend through 2032 for certain activities. They asked legislators to use VCBB maps and local CUD contacts to answer constituent inquiries about service timing.

The committee did not take immediate action on VCBB's presentation; staff committed to follow up on outstanding federal drawdowns and subgrantee agreements.