High Level Design to be Completed Soon

CVFiber is getting closer and closer to the start of actual construction. It’s an exciting and busy time; the pace of activity will only accelerate in the new year. Here are the latest headlines, with details following.

• CVFiber has contracts with the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative to design and manage network construction.
• The pole inventory will be completed in five towns this month.
• The high level design of the CVFiber network will be completed in January.
• CVFiber is buying 300 miles of fiber as part of a bulk purchase to advance Vermont’s broadband effort.
• CVFiber has redesigned its website cvfiber.net to provide more information and easier navigation.

NRTC/MSA contracts

CVFiber has reached agreement with the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative. NRTC is a professional services company that provides network design, project management, construction management, inspection, and other related services for the deployment of broadband networks. The first deliverable under the Master Services Agreement is for an Executable Project Plan encompassing the total effort of network buildout.

Pole Inventory Update

The pole inventory is complete in three towns: Middlesex, Moretown, and Worcester. Only a bit of touching up remains in Calais and East Montpelier.

Grant funding is in hand to conduct inventories in 11 additional towns: Barre Town, Cabot, Duxbury, Marshfield, Northfield, Orange, Plainfield, Roxbury, Washington, Williamstown, and Woodbury. CVFiber is now soliciting bids from contractors to do the work, which should begin in early 2022 and be complete in the spring.

Reminder: The pole inventory is necessary for detailed design and preparing the poles for construction. We must gather precise information about each pole including exact location, condition, and available connections.

High Level Design Update

CVFiber’s HLD contractor, Vantage Point Solutions, will finalize its work by mid-January. A lot of details are being ironed out. This 2-3 week delay should have no effect on CVFiber’s plans moving forward.

Bulk Purchase of Fiber

Multiple communications union districts are partnering to buy 2,000 miles of fiber this month. The $7 million purchase is a joint effort by the Vermont Communications Union District Association, the Vermont Community Broadband Board, the Vermont Community Foundation and the Vermont State Employees Credit Union. This transaction is likely to be the first of many bulk purchases designed to prevent delays in the supply chain and possible price hikes due to high demand for fiber and other materials.

The 2,000 miles should supply construction needs for Vermont’s CUDs for all of 2022 and part of 2023. CVFiber has committed $800,000 to purchase 300 miles of that total, which is enough fiber for one-quarter of our entire network.

More details can be found in this VTDigger article:

CVFiber Website Upgraded

The redesigned CVFiber website is online now. It’s easier to navigate and provides information that wasn’t available before, with more to come.  

The website includes every past issue of our monthly Community Updates, links to stories about CVFiber in the news, CVFiber’s Annual Report for 2021, meeting schedules and minutes for CVFiber’s Governing Board and committees, and a complete list of Requests for Proposal (RFP) both past and present. Our aim is to provide complete transparency in CVFiber’s governance and contracting processes. 

Questions? Comments? Get in Touch!

CVFiber is a nonprofit municipality and we welcome your input. You can post inquiries on our Contact page.

You can also reach out to your representatives on the Governing Board, which includes one delegate and one alternate from each of our 21 communities. A list of delegates and alternates can be found on our Governing Board page or you can contact your delegation on our Contact page.