ST. JOHNSBURY, Vt. (AP) — More than 40 Vermont communities have voted to join regional communications groups aimed at getting high-speed internet service to underserved areas.
Those include 27 towns in the Northeast Kingdom, the Caledonian Record reported Friday.
“NEK Community Broadband has officially been created!” Katherine Sims, director of the NEK Collaborative, wrote in an email to volunteers about the Town Meeting Day votes. Town selectboards must appoint a resident of the town to the Communications Union District board by late April, she wrote.
The ballot initiative was approved in Albany, Barnet, Barton, Brighton, Burke, Concord, Coventry, Craftsbury, Danville, East Haven, Glover, Greensboro, Groton, Hardwick, Kirby, Lowell, Lyndon, Newark, Peacham, Ryegate, Sheffield, St. Johnsbury, Stannard, Sutton, Waterford, Westfield and Wheelock.
Twelve other towns approved joining the Southern Vermont Communications Union District and four towns voted to join one in the Deerfield Valley.
Joining a district allows the communities to apply for state grants that would help offset costs for internet companies to provide the services.
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