Burlington Telecom

Burlington Telecom (Burlington, VT), is a municipal telecommunications company providing residents of the City of Burlington with television, telephone and internet triple play services. The company runs its communications offerings on a city-wide fiber-optic network.

History

A home network connecting every residence and business of Burlington was conceived in the 1980s. There were a number of failed attempts in the 1990s. A funding source could not be found. An experienced telecommunications expert, Tim Nulty, was hired as a consultant by the city [Simmon, Bill [http://www.vermontguides.com/2007/01-jan/burtel.htm "Casting a Wide NET"] , "Business People - Vermont", January 2007. ] . Nulty became General Manager of the newly created Burlington Telecom, a division of the city government [Mitchell, Christopher. [http://www.newrules.org/info/bt.pdf "Burlington Telecom Case Study"] , page 4, New Rules Project of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, August 2007. ] . The network was laid in stages. The first stage was finished and profitable by 2003. [Briggs, John. [http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060416/NEWS02/104250001 "Burlington Telecom moving ahead"] , Burlington Free Press, April 25, 2008. ] . The first and second stages became profitable by 2006. This led local government officials to believe the project would result in a major funding source for public coffers in the future.

Controversy

Burlington Telecom offered local channels and free channel offerings on cable. [ [http://www.newrules.org/info/bt.pdf Burlington Telecom Case Study] , page 6, New Rules Project of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, August 2007 accessed July 25, 2008] . In January 2007, Al Jazeera English was added to the cable lineup [ [http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080724/NEWS/80723022/1007/NEWS02 Burlington Telecom, Al Jazeera English Agree on Deal] accessed July 25, 2008] as Burlington Telecom did not have to pay for the network's feed.

In 2008, the company encountered controversy when it attempted to remove the Al Jazeera English language station from its basic offerings [ [http://www.boston.com/news/local/vermont/articles/2008/05/27/city_to_decide_if_al_jazeera_should_stay_on_cable/ Controversy over city's plan to pull plug on Arab network] accessed July 25, 2008] . After Burlington Telecom decided the channel would be removed from all cable package offerings, the city council and Mayor Kiss delayed the decision for discussion [Briggs, John. "Al Jazeera issue aired at hearing", Burlington Free Press, May 28, 2008] . A public meeting on the issue of Al Jazeera English's removal was aired on the international network [ [http://www.7dvt.com/2008al-jazeera-international-cover-burlington-telecom-meeting Al Jazeera International to Cover Burlington Telecom Meeting] accessed July 25, 2008] . After two public meetings, an oversight committee for Burlington Telecom decided the channel would continue to be offered in certain cable packages [ [http://www.boston.com/news/local/vermont/articles/2008/07/23/burlington_cable_to_keep_al_jazeera/ Burlington cable to keep Al Jazeera] accessed July 25, 2008] .

External links

* [http://www.burlingtontelecom.net/ Burlington Telecom Website]

ee also

* [http://www.ajr.org/article.asp?id=4397 American Journalism Review article on cable adding Al Jazeera]

References