Four Upper Valley towns to get high-speed internet service

WINDSOR, Vt. (AP) - Four more towns in the upper Connecticut River Valley of Vermont are on tap to get access to greater high-speed internet service.

The community-owned telecommunications provider ECFiber has agreed to extend the service to the towns of Windsor, Fairlee, West Fairlee and Corinth at their selectboards’ request, the Valley News reported.

They will be joining the 23 member towns of the East-Central Vermont Telecommunications District. The consortium’s board approved the membership earlier this month.

But it could be a while before the service is available.

ECFiber is committed to wiring the seven remaining towns before expanding its coverage area and needs to secure financing for the expansion, the organization said.

“If we can do the design next year, then we should be building in the 2022 construction, some of it likely will go over into 2023,” said Chris Recchia, former commissioner of the Vermont Department of Public Service who now serves as managing director of the Royalton-based ECFiber.

Under the plan, ECFiber will provide service to all of Fairlee and West Fairlee and parts of Windsor and Corinth that have slow or no internet service available.