House committee hears primer on broadband technologies, Vermont goals and federal funding

The House Energy and Digital Infrastructure Committee heard a broad technical and policy briefing on broadband on Jan. 22, as staff reviewed network types, state benchmarks and federal funding available to reach universal service.

Maria Royal of the Legislative Council led the presentation and defined broadband as “the transmission of wide bandwidth data over a high‑speed Internet connection,” describing the different wired and wireless delivery methods and the network layers known as last mile, middle mile and the Internet backbone. She and Hunter Thompson, director of telecommunications and connectivity at the Vermont Department of Public Service, told the committee Vermont has not met its statutory goal of providing 101/100 megabits per second (Mbps) symmetrical service to every residential and business 9‑1‑1 location by the end of 2024.

The briefing explained why that target matters: federal grant formulas and state programs use minimum speed definitions to set funding priorities. Royal told the committee the Federal Communications Commission’s benchmark has evolved (most recently discussed as 100/20 Mbps) and that Vermont’s policy has pushed toward a higher 101/100 symmetrical standard;…