 |
| Some of those who made RISE shine. |
A wise man once said it's amazing what you can accomplish if
you don't care who gets the credit. In the case of broadband expansion,
everyone wants to take credit, and that's just fine as long as it gets done.
 |
| 2018 internet in Virginia |
Virginia Governor Ralph Northam, Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, and 7th District Congressional Representative Abigail Spanberger trekked to the Hadensville Company 6 Fire-Rescue Station on December 13 to announce that Firefly Broadband has been awarded $79 million in a Virginia Telecommunication Initiative (VATI) grant. These funds, leveraged with $33.5 million put up by member counites will bring gigabit speed internet access to 36,000 unserved homes in 13 counties, including Goochland, in Central Virginia by 2024.
Firefly, a wholly owned subsidiary of Central Virginia
Electric Cooperative (CVEC) partnered with Rappahannock Electric Cooperative (REC,
Dominion Energy, and the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission (TJPDC).
Goochland Supervisors Susan Lascolette, District 1; Neil
Spoonhower, District 2; Don Sharpe, District 4; and Ken Peterson, District 5
attended. Also present were Goochland Sheriff Steven Creasey; Fire-Rescue Chief
D. E. "Eddie" Ferguson, Jr.; Interim County Administrator the Hon.
Manuel Alverez., Jr.; Ben Slone of the Economic Development Authority; School
Board Chair Karen Horn, District 3; Mike Newman, District 4 School Board Member;
and county and schools staff. Partners
in the project from Central Virginia Electric Cooperative; Rappahannock
Electric Cooperative; and Christine Jacobs, Executive Director of the Thomas
Jefferson Planning District Commission; John Hewa, President and CEO of REC and
Gary Wood, CEO of Firefly were there too.
Unlike the previous Firefly announcement, held in the same
location on November 10, there was extensive coverage by the regional media. Perhaps
because Company 6, which is in Goochland, has a Louisa County street address,
thanks to the United States Postal Service, reportage on the event has been a
bit vague about its location.
 |
| 2022 Internet Coverage in Virginia. |
Jacobs explained that her agency served as the lead applicant
and grant administrator for the VATI grant.
The super regional project includes 13 counties and touches five regional
planning districts.
"We are grateful for the incredible partnerships
that have formed to overcome obstacles to securing universal broadband coverage
in our region and look forward to supporting the provision of high-speed fiber
internet across the project area,” Jacobs said. The governor said
the VATI grant application filed by Firefly was by far the most comprehensive
of those submitted.
Northam, who hails from Virginia's rural eastern shore, said
that when he took office in 2018, he was told that it would take ten years to
bring broadband to the entire state. He felt that was far too long. Money appropriated
by the General Assembly for broadband expansion statewide rose from less than $4
million annually to $50 million last year. Applying federal dollars from the American
Rescue Plan to the effort will make Virginia the first state in the union to
have universal broadband access, the governor said. Regulatory obstacles that
prevented electric providers to use their right of way and easements for broadband
also needed to be overcome.
Northam praised Firefly President
and CEO Gary Wood as the driving force behind the project, which leverages
electric utility infrastructure to bring fiber to every home in the state
through the Rural Internet Service Expansion (RISE) project. Wood, who served
as a supervisor and school board member, understands the vital role that partnerships
among localities and with state and federal agencies plays in bringing initiatives
to completion. (See www.firerflyva.com/rise
for more information.)
Wood thanked all involved especially
Eric Feinman, the Governor's Chief Broadband advisor, and the Virginia Department
of Housing and Community Development, which administers the VATI grants. Projects were
selected through a competitive process that evaluated each for demonstrated
need and benefit for the community, applicant readiness and capacity, and the
cost and leverage of the proposed project. The level of funding awarded is
based on the infrastructure needs in the project area.
Wood said that
RISE is already "lighting the hills of Virginia" with broadband and thanks
to the VATI grand funding hopes to bring the project to the finish line by
2024. Goochlanders are already being connected to Firefly.
Warner, who quipped that he once had a "real job"
in telecommunications, recalled the early days of the internet. He said that people
in India got the benefits of internet access, Americans outside of urban areas,
not so much.
Spanberger was praised for her diligent work in the initiative.
As the only member of the Virginia Congressional delegation to sit on an
agriculture committee, she understood the hardship that a dearth of internet
access places on rural areas.
All speakers alluded to the realization that access to hi
speed internet is just as much an economic necessity to rural farmers as it is
to other kinds of businesses. Covid lockdowns made remote learning and work as
well as telehealth vital. They also pointed
out that universal broadband means that young people do not have to leave the communities
where they grew up for world class jobs.
Wood said that, thanks to the VATI grant, soon the light of
fiber internet will be everywhere that fireflies twinkle in the night sky of
Virginia.
No comments:
Post a Comment