Vermont Telephone Co. (VTel) now offers a gigabit fiber Internet connection to its residents for $35/month or just half the price of Google Fiber.
According to VTel’s Chief Executive Michel Guite, the project was made possible by a $94 million stimulus awarded by the federal government for broadband development, which enabled the company to refit its antiquated infrastructure that was originally installed in 1890.
It is worth noting that VTel was initially denied federal funding for the project, and Google played a “helpful role” in providing the necessary grant money by pushing forward with its Fiber project. Michel Guite acknowledged this with a statement to the Wall Street Journal that “Google has really given us more encouragement.”