Burlington Telecom is a municipal

telecommunications company A telecommunications company is a kind of electronic communications service provider, more precisely a telecommunications service provider (TSP), that provides telecommunications services such as telephony and data communications access. Many t ...

providing residents of

Burlington, Vermont Burlington, officially the City of Burlington, is the List of municipalities in Vermont, most populous city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the county seat, seat of Chittenden County, Vermont, Chittenden County. It is located south of the Can ...

with television, telephone and internet services. The company runs its communications offerings on a citywide

fiber-optic An optical fiber, or optical fibre, is a flexible glass or plastic fiber that can transmit light from one end to the other. Such fibers find wide usage in fiber-optic communications, where they permit transmission over longer distances and at ...

network.

History

home A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or more human occupants, and sometimes various companion animals. Homes provide sheltered spaces, for instance rooms, where domestic activity can be p ...

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. Nulty became

General Manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

of the newly created Burlington Telecom, a division of the city government. The network was laid in stages. The first stage was finished and profitable by 2003. 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. In September 2009 Burlington informed the

Vermont Public Service Board The Vermont Public Utility Commission (formerly known as the Vermont Public Service Board) is a government agency of the State of Vermont that supervises the rates, quality of service, and overall financial management of public utilities in Vermo ...

it had used $17 million in city money to support Burlington Telecom operations since early 2008. The failure to repay that loan was a violation of Burlington Telecom's state license. The revelation prompted a

forensic audit A financial audit is conducted to provide an opinion whether "financial statements" (the information is verified to the extent of reasonable assurance granted) are stated in accordance with specified criteria. Normally, the criteria are interna ...

of Burlington Telecom by the Public Service Department and, in early 2010, a

criminal referral A criminal referral or criminal recommendation is a notice to a prosecutorial body, recommending criminal investigation or prosecution of one or more entities for crimes which fall into that body's jurisdiction. In the U.S. federal government, ...

to the

Vermont Attorney General The Vermont attorney general is a statewide elected executive official in the U.S. state of Vermont who is elected every two years. It was created by an act of the Vermont General Assembly in 1790, repealed in 1797, and revived in 1904. The office ...

. Two private citizens also filed suit in Chittenden Superior Court in Burlington to compel Burlington Telecom to repay the $17 million. A special committee created by the City Council and including four citizens experienced in finance or telecommunications concluded in January 2010 that Burlington Telecom was unable to support its debt load. In mid-February 2010, Burlington Telecom defaulted on an interest payment of $386,000 to its commercial lender, CitiLeasing. On March 11, 2019, the city council of Burlington approved the sale of the company to Champlain Broadband a subsidiary of privately held

Schurz Communications Schurz Communications, Inc. is an American broadband media group and cloud services provider based in South Bend, Indiana. It previously owned newspapers and television stations. History The company was founded in 1872 by Alfred B. Miller and ...

. The sale will help the city to recover $7 million in taxpayer funds. Some of the sales proceeds of a total of $30.8 million will be used to repay loans of Citibank and Blue Water Holdings.

Controversy

Al Jazeera

Burlington Telecom offered local channels and free channel offerings on cable. In January 2007,

Al Jazeera English Al Jazeera English (AJE; , ) is a 24-hour English-language News broadcasting, news channel operating under Al Jazeera Media Network, which is funded by the government of Qatar. Al Jazeera introduced an English-language division in 2006. It is ...

was added to the cable lineup as Burlington Telecom did not have to pay for the network's feed. In 2008, the company encountered controversy when it attempted to remove Al Jazeera English (since replaced in the United States with

Al Jazeera America Al Jazeera America was an American pay television news channel owned by the Al Jazeera Media Network. The channel was launched on August 20, 2013, to compete with CNN, HLN, MSNBC, Fox News, and in certain markets RT America. It was Al Jazee ...

) from its basic offerings. After Burlington Telecom decided the channel would be removed from all cable package offerings, the city council and then-Mayor

Bob Kiss Bob Kiss (born April 1, 1947) is an American politician and former mayor of Burlington, Vermont. Kiss was a member of the Vermont House of Representatives from January 2001 until he stepped down to assume office as mayor of Burlington, followin ...

delayed the decision for discussion. A public meeting on the issue of Al Jazeera English's removal was aired on the international network. After two public meetings, an oversight committee for Burlington Telecom decided the channel would continue to be offered in certain cable packages.

Bond

In 2010, the company was unable to pay the $1.5 million interest on its bonds. It also owed the city of Burlington $17 million. As a result,

Moody's Moody's Ratings, previously and still legally known as Moody's Investors Service and often referred to as Moody's, is the bond credit rating business of Moody's Corporation, representing the company's traditional line of business and its histo ...

downrated the debt for the city two notches to A2, "upper medium" from Aa3, "high quality." Moody's also downrated the credit rating for

Burlington International Airport Patrick Leahy Burlington International Airport is a joint-use civil-military airport serving Burlington, Vermont's most populous city, and its metropolitan area. Owned by the City of Burlington, the airport itself is located in neighboring ...

. The Vermont Public Service Commission has asked for a criminal investigation. The general manager resigned.

References

External links

Burlington Telecom WebsiteAmerican Journalism Review article on cable adding Al Jazeera
{{authority control Companies based in Burlington, Vermont Public utilities of the United States Telecommunications companies of the United States Cable television companies of the United States