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Mayor Miro Weinberger Responds to Vermont Public Utility Commission Decision to Approve Sale of Burlington Telecom to Champlain Broadband

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 19, 2019

Contact: Olivia LaVecchia

                  (802) 734-0617

 

Mayor Miro Weinberger Responds to Vermont Public Utility Commission Decision to Approve Sale of Burlington Telecom to Champlain Broadband

 

Burlington, VT Today, the Vermont Public Utility Commission issued an order granting certificates of public good to Champlain Broadband, and approving the sale of Burlington Telecom to Champlain Broadband. This is the final stage of a process that the City began in 2014, with the resolution of the Citibank litigation and the transfer of assets to Blue Water Holdings, which allowed the City to stabilize its finances and improve its credit rating in order to save taxpayers millions. In response, Mayor Miro Weinberger issued the following statement:

 

“Today’s ruling from the Vermont Public Utility Commission regarding Burlington Telecom (BT) is excellent news that confirms the validity of the course that we have charted as a City, and helps turn what had been a great risk to the City into an enduring success. Seven years ago, this Administration and the City Council set out to find a resolution to the formidable Burlington Telecom lawsuit with Citibank that would ensure that current and future generations of Burlingtonians would continue to benefit from the powerful fiber optic resources installed by BT, protect against ever returning to the telecommunications monopoly that restricted Burlington’s service and choices prior to the creation of BT, and resolve the risk of liability while improving the City’s credit rating and recovering as much as we could of the $17 million spent by the City prior to 2010. Over the course of these seven years, we have had to make difficult decisions, but have been guided throughout by these goals. We welcome the regulatory decision announced today by the PUC, which keeps us on a path to permanently resolving this issue in a way that accomplishes all of these goals, and doing so while protecting this valuable asset and its benefits for Burlingtonians.”

 

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Press Release Date: 
02/19/2019
City Department: 
Mayor's Office