Significant financing for broadband will help rural Virginia

Richmond, Virginia – In Virginia, July has been a significant month for the rollout of ubiquitous broadband. Major money to finish the construction is promised by recent commitments from the federal and state governments.

The Virginia Telecommunications Initiative provided the state with more than $40 million last week for ten distinct initiatives that will benefit twenty municipalities.

Additionally, Virginia’s first request for more than $1.4 billion under the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment Program was accepted by the Biden administration.

“We are getting very close,” Gov. Glenn Youngkin told WDBJ7 in an interview Monday morning.

Youngkin stated that the objective of providing dependable high-speed internet to every Virginian is attainable with the most recent round of BEAD financing.

“This is part of ‘the Virginia way,’ which is to make sure that everybody has full access to educational opportunities, to job opportunities and of course to life,” Youngkin said. “And the internet is incredibly important.”

Western Virginia communities submitted applications for the most recent VATI funds. Additionally, at least three counties in our region—Boattetourt, Franklin, and Rockbridge—were honored with prizes.

“We’ve got a lot of hand-climb poles, a lot of rock, a lot of terrain challenges, so yes we were very, very happy,” said Rockbridge County Administrator Spencer Suter Monday afternoon.

Suter claimed that after unsuccessful applications in 2022 and 2023, the VATI prizes were particularly satisfying.

Additionally, he stated that the county anticipates using the BEAD funding in the future.

“I would like for folks to know that we have never quit, and we won’t quit and we’re going to keep pushing until everybody has access to quality broadband,” Suter said.

The infrastructure bill enacted by the Biden administration nearly three years ago had bipartisan support, which is the source of the most recent wave of government funds.

Finding every place that is still without connectivity and not included in another broadband project is the next stage.

Later this year, the state intends to start accepting applications from service providers.