Burlington Telecom

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


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • WCAX-TV — Infobox Broadcast call letters = WCAX TV city = station station slogan = Vermont s Own station branding = Channel 3 Channel 3 News analog = 3 (VHF) digital = 53 (UHF) subchannels = 3.1 CBS 3.2 WCAXtra (24 hour news and weather) other chs = W69AR… …   Wikipedia

  • Al Jazeera English — Launched 15 November 2006 Network Al Jazeera Owned by Qatar Media Corporation Picture format 16:9 (576i, SDTV) …   Wikipedia

  • NBC Weather Plus — Type Digi …   Wikipedia

  • Vermont Community Access Media — (VCAM) is Chittenden County, Vermont s public access television station and digital media resource center, seen in the Burlington area on [http://www.BurlingtonTelecom.net Burlington Telecom] and Comcast channel 15. VCAM aims to foster free… …   Wikipedia

  • Al Jazeera — For the English language channel, see Al Jazeera English Infobox Network network name = Al Jazeera network country = Qatar network type = Satellite television network available = Worldwide slogan = owner = Sheikh Hamad bin Thamer al Thani key… …   Wikipedia

  • Nuance Communications — Visioneer redirects here. For the film Visioneers, see Visioneers. Nuance Communications, Inc. Type Public (NASDAQ: NUAN) …   Wikipedia

  • Economic Affairs — ▪ 2006 Introduction In 2005 rising U.S. deficits, tight monetary policies, and higher oil prices triggered by hurricane damage in the Gulf of Mexico were moderating influences on the world economy and on U.S. stock markets, but some other… …   Universalium

  • Fairfield, Iowa —   City   Main Street …   Wikipedia

  • New Democratic Party candidates, 2008 Canadian federal election — This is a list of nominated candidates for the New Democratic Party in the 40th Canadian federal election, which resulted in a Conservative minority government.[1] Contents 1 Newfoundland and Labrador 7 seats 2 Prince Edward Island 4 seats …   Wikipedia

  • WPTZ — Infobox Broadcast call letters = WPTZ| station station slogan = Where the News Comes First station branding = NewsChannel 5 analog = 5 (VHF) digital = 14 (UHF) other chs = affiliations = NBC NBC WX+ (on DT2) network = founded = airdate = December …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”