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Rural broadband provider warns tariffs could raise equipment costs and slow fiber build‑out
Summary
Waitsfield & Champlain Valley Telecom told a joint legislative hearing that tariffs on imported components threaten to raise equipment costs for rural fiber builds and could reduce deployment or alter affordability plans.
Kirk Grundling, speaking for Waitsfield & Champlain Valley Telecom, told the joint hearing that federal tariffs risk increasing the cost of specialized telecom electronics used in rural fiber networks and could impede planned construction in high‑cost, low‑density areas.
Grundling described the provider as a fourth‑generation, family‑owned company focused on deploying fiber to remote Vermont communities. He said much of the equipment used in fiber…
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