Financing for network construction as well as initial operating losses would be provided by a private financier in the form of a non-recourse 15 year capital lease. This financial model has been used with great success by the city of Burlington to fund its fiber network (through Burlington Telecom.)
The capital lease would be arranged between a regional telecommunications association (a financing vehicle representing the towns involved in the project) and the outside private financier. The towns would not need to float municipal bonds for the funding.
The private financier would own the network until the capital lease has been paid off. In this lease-to-own arrangement, at the end of the loan period the regional telecommunications association will assume ownership of the network.
