June 21, 2022 – Royalton, VT

ValleyNet, a Vermont non-profit Internet Service provider (ISP), announced
today that it has launched an investigation into certain financial irregularities and has notified
law enforcement authorities. The irregularities were uncovered by a newly strengthened
management team as part of a leadership-directed program to bring a higher level of
professionalism and internal controls to the business. ValleyNet emphasized that this will not
impact its customers or their service.

“We are taking this situation seriously and are relieved to know this will not materially impact
our financial viability and does not pose a risk to our main customers, the East Central VT
Telecommunications District (“ECFiber”) and LymeFiber,” said Stan Williams, ValleyNet CFO.
“We are in the process of filing actions to ensure accountability and we trust that this process
will ensure we can recover funds that were taken.”

According to an initial review, this appears to be an incident involving a trusted outside
contractor, but ValleyNet will conduct a thorough investigation to be sure. All bank accounts
and internal accounting data have been secured and controls have been put in place to
prevent further incidents.

“I continue to be proud of the contribution ValleyNet has made to the telecom infrastructure of
Vermont. This organization and our partners have pioneered the regional district approach to
bringing world-class broadband to rural Vermont by founding, operating, and arranging for
financing the municipally-owned district. This has served as a model for universal broadband
coverage across Vermont,” Williams added.

ValleyNet will share more information as it becomes public.

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About ValleyNet
ValleyNet has been an ISP since its foundation as a Vermont non-profit organization in 1994
(as a provider of dial-up). Since 2008, ValleyNet has been assisting ECFiber in financing,
building and operating a universally available fiber-to-the-home network in east central
Vermont. ECFiber now has over 1,600 miles of optical fiber network and over 7,000
customers. Vermont has adopted this model of regional, municipally-owned Communications
Union Districts managed by independent operators under contract to achieve universal fiber
coverage. In 2020 ValleyNet began operating a town wide fiber optic service in Lyme, NH
under contract to LymeFiber.

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https://valley.net/about-us/
Contact:
Carole Monroe, Board Chair
Stan Williams, CFO
info@valley.net
(802) 763-0330