VTel now offering 10 gigabit Internet service

Springfield-based VTel has introduced 10 gigabits per second Internet available to every VTel home at $400 per month. The current $35-a-month charge for 1 gigabit Internet will remain in place.

Justin Robinson, VTel’s chief technology officer, said that four years ago VTel was proud “to initiate first-in-Vermont 1 gigabit Internet … We’re even more delighted today to announce first-in-Vermont 10 gbps Internet.”

VTel’s 10 gig residential Internet has been made possible by an $85 million VTel telephone network award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service. This RUS project is expected to be complete by June 30 on budget and on schedule, according to VTel.

“We’re very grateful to RUS for all their support during these past three years of construction,” said VTel CEO Michel Guite. “RUS’s vision that super-high-speed Internet can help change lives in rural America is being borne out. Many VTel customers today use 20 to 50 times more Internet than they did before, and rural families who never before used Internet are signing up.”

VTel’s $35 a month price for 1 gbps Internet remains unchanged while VTel’s new 10 gbps Internet service to homes is $400 a month.

Few Vermont providers offer 10 gbps to even Vermont’s largest corporate customers, with costs often exceeding $15,000 per month.

VTel’s 1,700-mile optical fiber network, connecting Vermont to New York, Boston and Montreal, is the fastest in Vermont, offering data pipes at speeds of 100 gig. It serves three of the largest research universities in the northeast, many of Vermont’s largest high schools, and recently upgraded Burlington School District’s Internet services to 10 gbps.