Dear Northeast Kingdom Internet User:

In 2003, the Vermont Council on Rural Development (VCRD) sponsored surveys in four Northeast Kingdom towns to measure the use of the Internet and the availability of broadband connections. The results showed that while usage of the Internet is very high, most of our towns have limited or no broadband coverage. Instead, many of us rely on dial-up Internet service, which is exceedingly slow compared to high-speed connections available elsewhere in Vermont. Consequently, the "digital highway" is bypassing the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont.

The Northeast Kingdom Collaborative is working to change that. With the support of the VCRD, the Collaborative is sponsoring a project to bring affordable broadband services to all parts of The Kingdom. We’re convinced the benefits would be tremendous. People who work with computers at home could send and receive large documents, including critical software updates and fixes. Small local businesses would be able to effectively reach a wider selection of providers and customers. Our towns would be more attractive to the kinds of businesses we’d like to recruit.

New Internet service technologies for rural areas are making broadband service accessible and affordable. You need to help us document the demand for this service in our communities by identifying the location of the homes or offices where broadband is wanted. Demonstrating the demand will enable us to find private companies offering the affordable, speedy Internet access our towns deserve.

If you are interested in obtaining a broadband Internet service please register at Broadband Interest Registration. The information will help us find clusters of people who need broadband, so we can concentrate on those communities first.

We will neither publish nor disclose to anyone your individual survey responses, but we will contact you once we learn more about options for speedy Internet service in your area. If you have any questions please email our project leaders, Al and Laura Duey, at info@NEKBroadband.org. For more information on the NEK Collaborative, visit www.nekcollaborative.org.

Thank you for your time and thoughtful consideration, we are looking forward to hearing from you, soon.

Patricia M. Sears
Chair of the Board
Northeast Kingdom Collaborative