Grant funds to bring fiber connectivity to most of Northampton County

Northampton Administrator Charlie Kolakowski announced to the Board Tuesday night the $12,310,777 the Eastern Shore Broadband Authority received from the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development as part of the Virginia Telecommunication Initiative(VATI) grant will bring fiber availability within two years to most of the County.

The funds will cover a significant portion, however not everywhere.

Kolakowski said areas that were previously covered by a USDA grant were not eligible for this round of funds.

However, areas that are still not able to have a fiber to home option will be addressed once the current build out plan is completed.

“It’s a very high percentage for a rural community, but we will try to get the numbers as close as possible. As has been stated several times, it’s very difficult to know what’s where,” Kolakowski said. “This is very helpful, because we know it’s going to cover most of the County in two years and then it’s really identifying the remaining areas and how many people are affected there.”