ECFiber, a communications union district formed in 2008, first brought broadband to Barnard and now connects over 10,000 subscribers in 31 Vermont towns. ECFiber is focused on strengthening its community-owned network from within, requiring a dedicated network operator aligned with its goals.
ECFiber’s governing board (the District) unanimously voted to transition network operations from GWI to The Vermont ISP Operating Company (VISPO) for two reasons:
1. GWI wanted too much money and too much control in a new contract. Its new “market price” was a 2,400% increase to the expiring contract.
2. The District had the ability to recreate the original model of having a dedicated nonprofit operator.
The District was alarmed when GWI shifted some ECFiber-assigned staff to other CUD contracts, when GWI failed to provide necessary financial reporting, and when GWI issued non-compete agreements to their staff around the time the District decided to move on from GWI. GWI continues to chase profit while restricting employee freedom, especially under new ownership from Mac Mountain, an investment company, that bailed out GWI.
The District has no interest in chasing increased profits by introducing external risk. As one of ECFiber’s founding members, Loredo Sola, put it: “anybody who’s interested in making a big profit on internet is just not going to build to a place like this.” VISPO, a non-profit operations company, is accountable to a board, not to a single owner of an investment company, and is aligned with the District’s vision for ECFiber. GWI doesn’t believe that VISPO can handle the ECFiber network; it’s wrong. As former District member Dave Brown said, ECFiber continues to do “what Vermonters typically do. When people tell us it’s impossible, we just do it ourselves.” VISPO, just like the CUD, is something ECFiber decided to do the Vermont way. VISPO doesn’t need to scale out like GWI; it just needs to support a simple, already profitable business in a very defined part of Vermont. The model is working, and the profit is already there; now is the time to make ECFiber the best it can be for our 31-town community.