Verizon Wireless is introducing a new, higher-speed communications network in about 30 Vermont communities.

Karen Marshall, who heads the state government's Connect Vermont office, outlinest where Vermont stands in completing the Shumlin administration's goal of universal broadband by 2013.

We hear from Vermonters with ties to the International Space Station on space exploration and Connect Vermont Chief Karen Marshall on where the state's broadband project stands.

Granville was one of 13 communities that Tropical Storm Irene's floodwaters completely disconnected from the rest of the state in August. Since then, the Addison County town has been reconnected physically. But Granville still faces a gaping digital divide.

Three Vermont utilities have finalized an agreement to install "smart grid" electric technology and to expand broadband computer service. Green Mountain Power, Central Vermont Public Service and Vermont Telephone will work together.

FairPoint Communications says it's extended high-speed broadband access to almost 90 percent of its customers. The company faced a state-imposed deadline last week to expand the number of people who can get fast connections on their computers.

The uphill climb to bring broadband internet service access to all Vermont communities continues. And once a town gets the broadband it wants, the e-Vermont Community Broadband Project is working to help residents know how to get the most out of the new technology.

The Shumlin Administration wants to deliver broadband Internet service to all Vermonters by 2013. To meet that challenge, state government is asking the public for help.

The Legislature is poised to relax permitting requirements so companies can quickly put up telecommunications facilities. But critics of the bill designed to expand broadband Internet and cell phone service in the state say it doesn't do enough to set deadlines and performance standards.

The Vermont Senate advanced legislation this morning aimed at boosting development of cell phone and broadband service around the state. The bill relaxes regulatory and environmental oversight for companies trying to put up telecommunications facilities. The goal is to have full statewide coverage by the end of 2013.

The Shumlin administration is optimistic about bringing high-speed internet and cell phone service to all corners of Vermont in the next two years.

Participants at a conference this week in Woodstock are underscoring the fact that Vermont businesses are increasingly competing in a global marketplace. The Second Innovation Engineering Leadership Institute focuses on how small- and medium-sized businesses can be more creative in designing and marketing their products.

Chittenden County businesswoman Karen Marshall has been named by Governor Shumlin to coordinate efforts to expand broadband and cell phone service throughout Vermont by 2013.

A two-day conference that kicked off today is aimed at strengthening the use of broadband in Vermont's libraries.

A group that wants to bring a fiber optic network to east-central Vermont says the government's choice of a plan that employs wireless technology is a poor choice.

VPR's Mitch Wertlieb gets a kind of primer on the technological opportunities and challenges V-TEL will face, from Chris Campbell of the Vermont Telecommunications Authority.

A Vermont company has won $116 million in federal grants and loans to get high-speed computer access to practically every home in the state.

A fiber optic cable will eventually follow the length of Vermont's interstate highways.

A big infusion of federal cash is coming to Vermont to help expand the broadband computer network to rural areas. A total of $47 million will go to two Vermont telecommunications companies to build fiber optic networks.

Two Vermont telecommunications groups are getting $47 million in federal stimulus money to build fiber optic networks. The money is the largest public investment in broadband infrastructure ever made in the state. It comes from a $7 billion investment in broadband infrastructure contained in the federal stimulus bill.