Vermont 2014 Telecommunications Plan

The Department of Public Service, in conjunction with the Agency of Commerce and Community Development and the Department of Information and Innovation, is pleased to announce the release of the final 2014 Telecommunications Plan. The Plan addresses the major ongoing developments in the telecommunications industry, including broadband infrastructure development, regulatory policy and recommendations for future action.

“This Plan is the product of a rigorous public input process. The Department carefully considered the proposals made by members of the public and the telecommunications industry in response to the Department’s final draft,” said Public Service Commissioner Christopher Recchia. The final plan includes added recommendations on “make-ready” and pole attachment policy, net neutrality, and it provides a more in depth look at the cost of deploying fiber to the home to every E911 location in Vermont.  The Plan calls for a prioritization of State supported projects that ensure locations with the slowest available broadband speeds receive priority for upgrades.  “The comments we received during the public and legislative review process helped us make this plan much stronger” Recchia said, adding “I appreciate the efforts of all those who commented and we made every effort to constructively address those comments in this final plan.”

The Plan also discusses ongoing developments in the provision of telephone and cable. In addition the Plan provides an analysis of state government telecommunications infrastructure. The Plan presents readers with an overview of the last ten years and what the State should focus on over the next ten years to ensure Vermonters have access to the best available telecommunications services. “It is our hope that this plan will help guide Vermont’s future telecommunications policy.”

The 2014 Telecommunications Plan is available electronically at the following link:

2014 Telecommunications Plan

Cavendish Update 12/5/14 Survey/Swap/News/Events

If you appreciated checking out the Cavendish VT Facebook to see if school was cancelled or delayed earlier in the week, read the preliminary findings of the Cavendish Telecommunications Survey, followed the unfolding stories of recent robberies on The Dish, or just enjoyed seeing what new photograph was posted to the Facebook page, show your appreciation by:

• Making a donation at the Abundance Swap on December 6 

• Mailing a check to Cavendish Connects, PO Box 3, Cavendish VT 05142 or clicking the Support Button and donating on-line. 

• Make a donation for an issue of the Cavendish Update in someone’s name

• Organizing a fundraiser

THE 12/5/14 EDITION OF THE CAVENDISH UPDATE

1. Weather Forecast and Upcoming Abundance Swap

2. Cavendish Related News

3. Cavendish Russian Christmas

4. Real or Fake: Which type of Christmas Tree is Eco Friendly?

5. Events

1. WEATHER FORECAST AND ABUNDANCE SWAP: The National Weather Forecast in Burlington has issued a winter weather advisory for wintry mixed precipitation, which is in effect from 7pm this evening, Dec. 5, until midnight Saturday night Dec. 6. Snow, sleet and freezing rain are forecast with a potential accumulation of 1-3 inches of wet snow.

The Abundance Swap is scheduled to start at 9:30 tomorrow morning, Saturday Dec. 6 and go until 11:30. Since the forecast calls for warmer temps and rain at this time, we will hold the Swap as scheduled, staying open longer to accommodate those who can’t get there earlier. In the event that the forecast changes, and we need to cancel this event, we will post on the Cavendish VT Facebook page at 7:30 am as well as the Cavendish Connects Calendar. For more information about the Swap, please check the calendar page. 

2. CAVENDISH RELATED NEWS

Cavendish Robberies- from 11/23-12/3: Note: An additional robbery took place this week. According to Crime Reports, https://www.crimereports.com there have been a series of robberies in town as follows:

11/23 (Sunday) 1100 Block Tarbell Hill-Larceny

11/25 (Tuesday) 1700 Davis Rd-Larceny

11/26 (Wednesday) 800 Block Farm Town Rd- Breaking & Entering

11/26 (Wednesday) 4200 Block Twenty Mile Stream- Larceny

12/3 (Wednesday) High Street-Larceny

If you have any information on these cases, please contact the Vermont State Police 875-2112.

Cavendish Telecommunications Survey: Preliminary Findings: From November 15-30, Cavendish Connects conducted an on-line survey about Internet, cell and landline service. Of the 97 respondents 80% were full time Cavendish residents and 17% second home owners. All parts of town were represented in the survey. Preliminary findings from the survey are available at The Dish. 

VT Attorney General’s Office Warnings to Consumers: There is a phone scam taking place in Vermont in which callers claiming to be from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) are demanding money. The caller threatens legal action if an alleged outstanding debt to the IRS is not paid immediately. The callers then direct the consumer to call a phone number and make immediate payment by credit card or other direct means of payment. WPTZ 

• Scammers are also creating fake posts on Craigslist stealing information from legitimate real estate sales but claiming the properties are for rent. Other scammers are making up listings for properties that don't exist. They entice victims with low advertised rents and ask them to wire a deposit. The AG says never send money until you've tour the property and met the owner, property manager or real estate agent. WCAX 

3. CAVENDISH RUSSIAN CHRISTMAS: As part of understanding the heritage of the many countries that Cavendish residents have come from, this holiday season the Cavendish Historical Society (CHS) is celebrating Russia.  Many will immediately think of Cavendish’s connection with the famous Russian writer and Soviet dissident Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, who lived in our town for 18 of the 20 he was in exile. However, the first Russians came to our area in the early 1900s, thanks to the Gay Brothers trip to Eastern Europe to recruit Mill workers.

Many of those who came to Cavendish, were from villages, where it would have been customary to place a sheaf of the year’s grain crop and decorate it with ribbons. If you notice the swags on the Museum and Cavendish Stone Church, you’ll see that these traditions continue. Instead of wheat, it’s likely that many of our Russian immigrants would have used flax, once grown in Cavendish, as well as other items found in nature-birch and pinecones.

On December 22, CHS will be holding a series of workshops for the students of the Cavendish Town Elementary School (CTES) where the students will engage in a “hands on activity,” as well as sample Russian Christmas goodies. Special thanks to Svetlana Phillips for her help with this program.

To learn more about Russian Christmas and the program for Cavendish students, go to the Cavendish Historical Society blog. 

 4. REAL OR FAKE? WHAT TYPE OF CHRISTMAS TREE IS ECO FRIENDLY? With both fire departments launching their annual Christmas Tree sales this weekend, you may be wondering whether it is environmentally more friendly to buy a real tree or use a fake one. According to Post Consumers, real trees support farms and natural eco systems. Buying a real tree isn’t just a “more” eco-friendly decision than using a fake tree, it’s actually a way to actively help the environment and enjoy the aroma/feeling of nature in your home. You’re also helping local farmers, which is always a good thing. And in our case, buying a tree from either Cavendish or Proctorsville Fire Departments supports our community. 

 5. EVENTS: December 6 (Saturday) is the First Annual Abundance Swap and the Holiday Fair. December 6 and 7th will be the annual Christmas tree and wreath sales at the Cavendish and Proctorsville Fire Departments The Juniors of the PFD will also be conducting a bottle drive, so please drop your cans and bottles that are worth a .5¢ deposit.

For more information on these and other upcoming events, go to

• Cavendish Connects Calendar

• On going Cavendish Fall Activities 

•  Okemo Valley Calendar 

SUPPORT CAVENDISH CONNECTS  

Cavendish Telecommunications Survey: Preliminary Findings

From November 15-30, Cavendish Connects conducted an on-line survey about Internet, cell and landline service. Of the 97 respondents 80% were full time Cavendish residents and 17% second home owners. All parts of town were represented in the survey.

Regarding satisfaction with existing services, on a scale of one to five, with 1 being poor, 2-Not Great, 3-Okay, 4-Good and 5-Excellent, the average rating for landline service was 3.99, 2.92 for Internet and 2.12 for cell phone. Thought it had the worse rating, there were few comments about cell phone service, which were summed up best by one respondent, Phone service on cell stinks. Always have to resort to landline or go outside.

 TDS was the largest provider of Internet service 54% (51 respondents) with Comcast a distant second with 26% (24 respondents). Other providers were as follows: VTel 6 respondents; Satellite (including Wild Blue) 3;  hotspot from mobile carrier 3; Dish 2; and one respondent uses Excede as well as Vtel

The most frequent use of the Internet for all respondents was checking e-mail-93%, followed by making purchases-88% , and staying informed (news)-81%. TDS users were more likely to use the Internet for their home business (38%) and video streaming 63% then other respondents.

 The most written comments pertained to Internet service, with TDS receiving a majority of them. Fifty eight percent (58%) of TDS subscribers rated the service “poor” or “not great,” and 42% indicated that their Internet service was impeded daily/constantly, while 28% found their service impeded weekly. The comments about TDS focused on slow speeds, routers not working properly, that the situation is getting worse instead of better and how the situation was significantly impacting the ability to telecommute or maintain a home business.

Comments about Vtel were mixed with several complaining about the high start up costs and others indicating that the service is not as advertised. Only one comment was made about Comcast Internet, where 75% of subscribers rated it good or excellent.

With telecommuting and home based business the two fastest growing segments of the workforce, it was important to understand how the Internet was impacting this area. While one telecommuter was pleased with their set up, noting they purchased their home from someone that was also a telecommuter, another respondent noted, Lost a sale of home due to inadequate business Internet services.

Unfortunately, there are home-based business owners, who can’t relocate here. The lack of adequate, reliable and reasonably-priced telecommunication services (internet and mobile) prevents us from moving to Cavendish full-time. I have a home-based business that requires me to be reliably on-line and available, and this is simply not possible in Cavendish.  There are others that have moved here and now regret it. Our Internet speed has steadily worsened over the last several months; I'm attempting to work from home but it's becoming increasingly more difficult. Had we known that the Internet would be so spotty here we would have potentially purchased a home in another town nearby with better access. I feel limited in what I can accomplish working from home.

 Even commuting to a job has become problematic as noted by one respondent, I am a physician at Dartmouth. I am on overnight call from home regularly. This involves speaking with residents throughout the night about patient care, and signing the resident notes in a timely manner. I am unable to reliably take call from home, because I don't have a reliable Internet connection. This means I have to stay at a hotel in Hanover, NH when I am on call. Essentially, a physician who takes call from home cannot buy a home in Cavendish, unless they are willing to stay regularly at a hotel in a town that has good Internet service.

The need for better service was a common them, which was summed by the respondent who wrote,, Reliable and fast Internet is the backbone of a productive life. No matter what field one is in, a good Internet connection is essential to achieving personal and professional goals.

 The Cavendish Telecommunications survey has found that Internet and cell service are a) inadequate, problematic and town wide; and b) adversely impacting the town’s economic future. 

Celebrating a Russian Christmas in Cavendish

This year, the Cavendish Historical Society is celebrating a Russian Christmas with the students at CTES. Learn more about our early Russian residents in Cavendish, schedule of workshops on Dec. 22 as well as more about the decorations on the doors of the Cavendish Stone Church and Museum by going to the Cavendish Historical Society blog.