Current Press Releases

Archived Press Releases & News Items

SoVerNet Exposes Legislative Threat to Broadband Access

BELLOWS FALLS, February 25, 2002—In a media availability event held Monday, February 25, 2002, SoVerNet C.E.O. and Chairman, J.B. “Tony” Elliott, exposed the Tauzin-Dingell Bill, which is scheduled for a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday, February 27, as “a threat to competitive public Broadband Internet access.”

H.R. 1542, euphemistically named the ‘Internet Freedom and Broadband Deployment Act,’ is quite the contrary. Mr. Elliott explained that the “Tauzin-Dingell Bill, if passed, would significantly modify key provisions of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 which, up to now, have allowed competitive provisioning of high-speed Broadband access to the public.”

Calling H.R. 1542, a “wolf in sheep clothing,” Mr. Elliott emphasized that “a lot of noble statements in the Bill are, in reality, protectionism for the large monopolistic Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs), such as Verizon in the State of Vermont.”

Mr. Elliott stressed that “consumers should be concerned about the outcome of the Tauzin-Dingell Bill vote because having a choice in high-speed Broadband access with fast Internet connections is necessary to spur the economic development of on-line business activity and opportunity. The Tauzin-Dingell Bill removes this choice thereby placing consumers and businesses at the mercy of the large RBOCs with their non-competitive structure and prohibitive costs.” Mr. Elliott was quick to remind everyone “that, after all, it was SoVerNet and a handful of others who initially brought Internet to Vermont, not Verizon.”

Specifically, Mr. Elliott explained that “the Tauzin-Dingell Bill limits access to the communications infrastructure (including the copper and fiber lines, poles, and rights-of-way) that the ’96 Communications Act currently recognizes as belonging to the public. And for Congress to change that policy now, more than five years after access was initially granted, is doubly unfair because SoVerNet and other local companies, in good faith, have heavily invested in systems to provide communications services after being solicited by Congress, through the ’96 Communication Act, to do so.”

SoVerNet has urged Vermont’s Congressional Representative, Bernie Sanders, to vote against the Tauzin-Dingell Bill and encourages all Vermonters to be responsible and call Mr. Sanders to express opposition to it as well. If there was ever a time for grass-roots politics, Mr. Elliott said, “It’s now.” Congressman Sanders can be reached toll-free within Vermont at 800-339-9834 or in Washington D.C. at 202-225-4115.

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SoVerNet Awarded UVM Preferred Vendor Status

BELLOWS FALLS, August 31, 2001—The University of Vermont (UVM) has chosen SoVerNet as its “Preferred Vendor” of Internet products and services. This newly acquired Preferred Vendor status makes SoVerNet the Internet Service Provider (ISP) of choice, recommended by the University through its Computing & Information Technology Department to its off-campus affiliate community statewide for anyone requiring ISP services, from dialup to residential and business broadband.

The eligible community includes all off-campus UVM affiliates, individual full- and part-time students, staff and faculty members, extension and continuing education offices throughout the state, research facilities, fraternities and sororities in Burlington, and all UVM academic departments.

SoVerNet was notifieed of their Preferred Vendor Status by UVM in July, 2001. The company is excited about the distinction, as well as the expansion of SoVerNet’s data and telephone product suite throughout the UVM community and the State of Vermont.

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SOVERNET REAFFIRMS COMMITMENT TO VERMONT
State's largest locally-owned ISP poised to pick up the slack

BELLOWS FALLS, February 22, 2001—SoVerNet, Vermont’s leading locally-owned Internet Service Provider (ISP), today issued a strong message reaffirming its support for Vermont, and its plans to expand services within the State. With Togethernet’s recent closing of its Burlington offices after its acquisition by Earthlink, SoVerNet is the only locally-owned and operated statewide provider of high-speed Internet services. The company acknowledged that it has seen steady traffic of customers switching to them since news of the sale last fall. The past few days have seen the traffic swell to a strong flow as Vermonters elect to remain connected to a locally-based service provider.

Vermont has suffered several set-backs recently, relative to technology deployment and availability of local provider choices for consumers. Business development has been hampered by the loss of a major local ISP. The State has been slow to see deployment of broadband technologies, due to its market position relative to more populated market areas such as Boston and New York. SoVerNet, the largest remaining locally-owned ISP in the state, is bucking the trend. The company is committed to ensuring the development and deployment of the technology the State needs for its business growth and economic vitality.

Company CEO Tony Elliott, affirmed recently, “SoVerNet is here to stay. We’ve invested millions in our network infrastructure and operating capacity. Currently we are deploying advanced Internet and telecommunications technology in 8 towns in Vermont, with 21 more to follow next year.” While many technology companies are laying off personnel in Vermont, SoVerNet has been hiring. Staff has grown to 85, with plans to hire into many new positions over the next few months. With funding from VEDA (Vermont Economic Development Authority) in place, SoVerNet continues its significant expansion and is on the verge of a major release of a full line of new high-speed access and telecom products. The company’s primary mission remains to serve both residential and business customers in the State of Vermont.

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SoVerNet Acquires National Mobile Communications Corporation

BELLOWS FALLS, October 17, 2000—SoVerNet, Inc., Vermont’s Sovereign Internet Connection, is pleased to announce the acquisition of National Mobile Communications Corporation, an emerging Vermont Competitive Local Exchange Carrier (CLEC). The acquisition, which includes the Green Mountain Telecom and Best Cellular brands, positions SoVerNet to significantly expand service offerings as an Integrated Communications Provider (ICP).

Tony Elliott, Chairman and CEO, said: “This acquisition will allow us to offer local and long-distance telephone service as well as enhancing high-speed, broadband access services to include higher speeds, more locations, and lower-cost; consumer options such as ADSL and G.Lite. Importantly, this acquisition means that SoVerNet has taken a tangible step to ensure our long-term viability in this dynamic industry while remaining locally owned and operated.”

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SoVerNet Sponsors Big Heavy World
Burlington’s Urban Scene Web Site to Expand with MultiMedia and More Live Concerts

BELLOWS FALLS, July 1, 2000—The Big Heavy World Web site of Burlington, Vermont, announces a sponsorship agreement with SoVerNet that will allow an exponential expansion of Big Heavy World’s ability to archive and promote Burlington’s regional music scene via the Internet at www.bigheavyworld.com. The Big Heavy World Web site has previously been hosted by an Atlanta-based business. SoVerNet’s sponsorship also allows the Web site to return to the state and city it proudly represents.

This new server, along with redundant T3 connections to the Internet, backup power supplies, and ’round the clock monitoring provided by SoVerNet, will allow the BHW Web site to add local music video content to its promotional archive of streaming and downloadable regional music.

SoVerNet, Vermont’s only locally-owned and operated Internet Service Provider providing statewide service, was founded in 1995 to fill a need for Internet access via a local call. With offices in Bellows Falls and Burlington, SoVerNet currently offers a wide array of business and residential products from 56k dialup to dedicated T-3, including Business SDSL, Web hosting, e-commerce, and now Colocation services!

Big Heavy World is a tech-heavy guerrilla promotional enterprise based at www.bigheavyworld.com, dedicated to bringing the amazing music scene of Burlington, Vermont to the world’s attention. Run by a staff of Gen-Y volunteers, Big Heavy World has recently expanded to become an independent record label with the signing of alt-pop action heroes Chin Ho! and the tech-core “nanowickermen” Chainsaws and Children.

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SOVERNET CELEBRATES 5 YEARS!

BELLOWS FALLS, March 20, 2000—SoVerNet, Inc. celebrates its fifth anniversary with birthday specials. One of Vermont’s largest Internet Service Providers, SoVerNet was founded five years ago to fill a need for dependable Internet access via a local call. “Our plans to gradually grow the business were quickly scrapped as we reached our first year projections in a matter of weeks,̶ said the company’s founder, President, and CTO, Erik Leo. A year later, the company’s “local access” had grown from the southern four counties to encompass the entire State. Today, steady growth continues at a more predictable rate than during those wild first few months.

During the months of April and May, as part of its anniversary celebration, SoVerNet will be offering exciting incentives to new customers, and substantial savings to existing customers, with discounts on account fees, special pricing on SDSL services, and other specials.

At present, SoVerNet provides service to over 20,000 customers throughout Vermont and New Hampshire, with offices in Bellows Falls and Burlington. “Our goals today are much what they were five years ago, which is to provide dependable, up-to-date technology at a price that folks can afford,” said Leo. SoVerNet currently offers a wide array of business and residential products from 56k dialup to dedicated T-3, including Business SDSL, web hosting, e-commerce, and much more.

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SOVERNET, OFFERING BUSINESS SDSL IN BRATTLEBORO AND BELLOWS FALLS

BELLOWS FALLS, October 19, 1999—SoVerNet, Vermont’s Sovereign Internet Provider, announces it’s initial rollout of Business SDSL (Symmetric Digital Subscriber Line) Services in the central Bellows Falls and Brattleboro areas.

“This exciting new service allows us to provide business customers an economical alternative to the more high priced, traditional means of bandwidth transport,” said Tony Elliott, Vice President and CFO of SoVerNet, Inc.

Elliott went on to say, “Symmetric DSL functions perfectly to meet the needs of our business customers. Download and upload speeds are the same, starting at 160k. Coupled with routable IP addressing, full 24/7 monitoring, and two dialup connections for remote work, we feel that this is a wonderful solution for the business owner looking for additional reasonably priced bandwidth.”

SDSL is a modem technology that transforms ordinary copper lines into digital lines allowing high-speed Internet access delivered at great savings. These new lines can replace the more expensive, traditional Frame Relay and Point-to-Point T1’s currently in use. SoVerNet’s new services begin at $160 per month. Plans are in place to expand this service to other urban areas throughout the State during the upcoming months.

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SOVERNET, NOW WITH MORE THAN 100MBPS CAPACITY TO THE INTERNET

BELLOWS FALLS, February 12, 1999—“Redundancy is the essence of reliable networking,” said Tony Elliott, Vice President and CFO of SoVerNet, Inc. SoVerNet has completed construction of its redundant, multi-homed Internet backbone with full DS-3 (T3) access to multiple tier one Internet providers at both ends of their statewide network.

Elliott said, “Our network now provides businesses and individuals with a more robust Internet connection than can be achieved by any single provider. Should one of our providers fail to deliver access, traffic is routed over one of two other networks. We strive to stay way ahead of the bandwidth curve, as well, so as to never become a bottleneck in the quest for ever increasing bandwidth needs of our customers.”

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SOVERNET OPENS BURLINGTON OFFICE

BELLOWS FALLS, November 23, 1998—SoVerNet, Vermont’s Sovereign Internet Connection, announces the opening of its Burlington, Vermont office. They are located at 110 Cherry Street, on the second floor, just behind Border’s Books.

Headquartered in Bellows Falls, Vermont, SoVerNet is Vermont’s only statewide, locally owned and operated Internet Service Provider (ISP). SoVerNet is a full service Internet Provider with a complete line of offerings, including email, web, shell, and more, with dialup and dedicated access via ISDN, Frame Relay, and Point-to-Point.

According to Tony Elliot, Vice President, “We have been providing local access to the entire State since 1995. The Cherry Street office is a real commitment to become a more integral part of the Burlington community, as well as the entire northern and central portions of the State.”

To celebrate the opening, SoVerNet is introducing special pricing on a variety of dedicated-access high speed connections. Several options for discounts are available for longer-term contracts, and SoVerNet has a sale or lease program available which will provide plug and play equipment to get dedicated connections up and working easily.

SoVerNet provides reliable, affordable access to businesses, educational institutions, and individuals throughout Vermont and adjacent areas.

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