Other US cities have telecom coops and these coops provide faster/more bandwidth and charge less than the commercial providers. I would much rather own the telecom than be at the mercy of Comcast, Verizon or whoever (if anyone) buys BT.

BT uses optical fiber, the best available technology, much faster/more bandwidth than cable or DSL (copper telephone wire). There are only 2 other providers. They do not have fiber and don’t have plans to provide it in Burlington any time soon. They also charge more than these older technologies are worth due to the lack of competition. If BT does not become a coop we will either not have a fiber option or have to pay much more for it since there is no competing fiber provider in the market.