VTel rushes to meet cellphone deadline

Michel Guite, president of Vermont Telephone Co., or VTel, testifies in the Statehouse. File photo by Erin Mansfield/VTDiggerEditor’s note: This story by John Lippman first appeared in the Valley News on Oct. 28.SPRINGFIELD — Days before VTel Wireless faces a Nov. 1 deadline to show it has reached a threshold number of cellphone customers or risk being forced to refund millions of dollars to Vermont, some customers have begun receiving free cellphones in the mail in an apparent bid b