§ 202c. State telecommunications; policy and planning

(a) The General Assembly finds that advances in telecommunications technology and changes in federal regulatory policy are rapidly reshaping telecommunications services, thereby promising the people and businesses of the State communication and access to information, while creating new challenges for maintaining a robust, modern telecommunications network in Vermont.

(b) Therefore, to direct the benefits of improved telecommunications technology to all Vermonters, it is the purpose of this section and section 202d of this title to:

(1) strengthen the State’s role in telecommunications planning;

(2) support the universal availability of appropriate infrastructure and affordable services for transmitting voice and high-speed data;

(3) support the availability of modern mobile wireless telecommunications services along the State’s travel corridors and in the State’s communities;

(4) provide for high-quality, reliable telecommunications services for Vermont businesses and residents;

(5) provide the benefits of future advances in telecommunications technologies to Vermont residents and businesses;

(6) support competitive choice for consumers among telecommunications service providers and promote open access among competitive service providers on nondiscriminatory terms to networks over which broadband and telecommunications services are delivered;

(7) support the application of telecommunications technology to maintain and improve governmental and public services, public safety, and the economic development of the State;

(8) support deployment of broadband infrastructure that:

(A) uses the best commercially available technology;

(B) does not negatively affect the ability of Vermont to take advantage of future improvements in broadband technology or result in widespread installation of technology that becomes outmoded within a short period after installation;

(9) in the deployment of broadband infrastructure, encourage the use of existing facilities, such as existing utility poles and corridors and other structures, in preference to the construction of new facilities or the replacement of existing structures with taller structures; and

(10) support measures designed to ensure that by the end of the year 2024 every E-911 business and residential location in Vermont has infrastructure capable of delivering Internet access with service that has a minimum download speed of 100 Mbps and is symmetrical. (Added 1987, No. 87, § 1; amended 2003, No. 164 (Adj. Sess.), § 15, eff. June 12, 2004; 2009, No. 54, § 49, eff. June 1, 2009; 2011, No. 53, § 24b, eff. May 27, 2011; 2013, No. 190 (Adj. Sess.), § 8, eff. June 16, 2014.)