$5M to improve cellphone service in southern Vt.

— Andover Road between Andover and Weston;

— Route 7 in Pownal;

— Route 9 in Marlboro and Wilmington;

— Routes 100 and 100a in Plymouth;

— Route 100 in Wardsboro;

— Route 103 in Mount Holly; and

— Route 133 from Pawlet to Middletown Springs.

The state also is on target to get broadband computer service to every home and business by the end of 2013, Shumlin said. Now, 95.6 percent of Vermont e911 addresses are connected, compared to 87 percent when the project was started. That leaves 4.2 percent still lacking service.

"Help is on the way, and we expect to have you connected by our deadline," Shumlin said.

The only holdups could be an extraordinarily snowy winter or if communities challenge the placement of cell equipment, he said.

Speed of the connection, too, has improved. The average speed has increased from 5.5 megabits per second to 9, making Vermont one of the leading states in average connection speed, Connect Vermont Chief Karen Marshall said.