$12 million in additional funding for broadband headed to Eastern Shore

December 15, 2021
 |
Eastern Shore Broadband Rural Internet

New grants have been announced that will hopefully advance Virginia 90% to the goal of achieving universal access to broadband and high-speed internet, placing Virginia on track to being one of the first states successfully charting a path to universal access to broadband.

The dramatic progress results from a combination of state, federal, local, and private-sector investments that Virginia has accelerated over the past four years.

“Broadband access impacts every facet of our daily lives, from education to business to health care,” said Governor Northam. “It’s a necessity for navigating today’s digital world, and this new funding will close Virginia’s digital divide with universal broadband by 2024.”

The announcement comes as Virginia allocates more than $722 million to provide universal broadband infrastructure in 70 localities. The funding—from the Virginia Telecommunication Initiative (VATI) and the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA)—will support 35 projects, connecting more than 278,000 households, businesses, and community anchor institutions to high-speed internet, and leverages more than $1 billion in private and local investments, pushing the total broadband investment in Virginia above $2 billion over the past four years.

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“We had requested just over $15 million in funding, and I am pleased to report that an award of $12,310,777 has been made, being matched by new county funding of $754,000 from Northampton and $1,474,000 from Accomack, and about $1.1 million previously committed to the project by the counties,” said Accomack Board Chair Ron Wolff and Northampton Board Chair Dixon Leatherbury in a joint statement. “This work represents 123 new miles of fiber optic for Northampton and 128 miles for Accomack.  This should provide coverage to 11,091 residences in unserved areas.”

However, it should be remembered there is still a massive strain on the nation’s supply chain, and while Congress has passed historic amounts of stimulus money to try and close the digital divide, it is all chasing the same finite resources.

The joint statement from the two chairman continued “we should caution however, that this work cannot be completed as rapidly as many would like–our contemporaries across the State and nation are competing for the same resources (both physical and human) to make similar jobs happen.”

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