Dennis Roland with his new Starlink satellite internet dish When Dennis Roland retired to the hills outside Waterbury in 2014, he knew part of the price of a slower pace of life would be slower internet service. He
didn t know it would practically cost him his sanity. As a chemist at a New Jersey pharmaceutical company, Roland had been used to collaborating with colleagues around the world using lightning-fast internet services. But from his new home at the end of an unpaved road in the Worcester Range, Roland s connection was agonizingly slow when he had it at all. It would go out for a couple weeks at a time, which drove me nuts! Roland exclaimed.
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Two companies have won more than $3 million through a competitive process overseen by the Federal Communications Commission to bring high-speed internet service to unserved parts of Bennington County.
Consolidated Communications won $2,697,942 in support for 958 locations within the county, while SpaceX â the developer of Starlink, a satellite internet company â won $327,545 for 159 locations.
Across the country, as part of the same competitive process, more than $9.2 billion was awarded to a total of 180 bidders, who over the next decade will be tasked with bringing broadband âto over 5.2 million unserved homes and businesses,â according to a news release this month from the FCC, which awarded the funding through the first phase of its Rural Digital Opportunity Fund auction.