Nick Stefani, a Champlain College senior majoring in graphic design in the Communications and Creative Media division, has produced the official Vermont video entry in the Google Fiber competition. The two-minute video, in which Stefani appears to run through the state pulling a fiber optic cable from lake to Montpelier and the Statehouse, is part of the state's effort to win Google's fiber project for the entire state for broadband, not just a few cities or towns.

Stefani worked with Mary and Tom  Evslin to make the video during Champlain's spring break. "They were looking for a student to do the video, but when they came to campus, everyone was on spring break. They then asked a local video company - Henhouse Media - to do the project. I'd been volunteering with Henhouse to work with them on a project, so when they didn't have time in their schedule to do the job, they recommended me," Stefani said.

Tom  Evslin calls the Google Fiber Community Connection  a "one in a gig" longshot. In a vote last week, the Vermont Telecommunications Authority (VTA)  decided to put in a bid to try to convince Google to wire not just a few cities but the entire state of Vermont for broadband - "we think we'd be a fantastic testbed for them, Evslin said.

If they win Google funding, the project would be quick and administratively simple," Evslin promised, because state law supports the deployment of a statewide broadband network in the same way as if it was deployed in a single town.

According to a report on Connected Planet  entitled "Stimulus Stories: Telecom veteran Evslin readies Vermont for Round 2 -- and Google" by Rich Karpinski, the  Evslins started wholesale long distance carrier ITXC back in 1997 (which they eventually sold off). Tom Evslin subsequently launched AT&T WorldNet, one of the first ISPs, among other ventures. Now mostly retired and living in Vermont, the couple has been working in various capacities (currently Tom is the state chief technology officer), to bring broadband to the small, northeastern state.

That effort -- not to mention his deep industry experience -- has put him at the center of numerous efforts to help seed and speed that broadband deployment, including applying for funding via the federal broadband stimulus program, for similar federal funding in the area of smart grids, and even making an application to Google's closely-watched Fiber for Communities project.

While some lucky communities will benefit from Google's largess, the bigger picture impact will be to prove that a "structural separation" business model for local broadband networks can be successful and attract private capital. "I'd like to see that succeed," Evslin said, adding that the U.S. "needs that to be competitive."

See the WCAX Channel 3 report