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| If you need internet and see a truck like this in your area, celebrate! |
Broadband access is a 21st century necessity. If anything,
good came out of the Covid pandemic, it was a final push for universal coverage.
Goochland has been looking for ways to connect everyone in
the county for at least a decade. Widely separated homes and even dreadful cell
phone coverage make connecting every home an expensive proposition.
In the last year or so, 13 electric utility providers in the
central Virginia region banded together to form the regional internet service
expansion project (RISE) under the umbrella of Firefly Fiber Broadband. The
goal is to make reliable and affordable gigabit speed internet available to those
unable to otherwise connect to the information superhighway.
Funding for the project includes grant money from various
sources and Goochland County. Connection cannot come soon enough for residents
on the wrong side of the digital divide.
At the May 3 Board of Supervisors meeting, Gary Wood, CEO of
Firefly gave a progress report. (Go to https://www.goochlandva.us/
Given the different installation challenges in the area
Firefly serves and the different working methods with each electric provider, Wood
likened the process to making a patchwork quilt. He reported that the Cartersville
substation is complete and most of the people who wanted service in that area
have been connected.
In the Shannon Hill area, Wood said that the fiber and most
of the splicing is complete. Currently, 50 people are online. There are approximately
448 people registered who would be serviced by the Shannon Hill substation.
Wood expects that they will start to be connected in "the next couple of
weeks." The "take" rate for Shannon Hill, said Wood, is about 70
percent. "When we started this project, we expected that the take rate
would be around 35 percent. That was before Covid."
So far, Firefly has installed 91 miles of fiber in
Goochland.
That's the good news. The RISE project will bring broadband
to parts of the county not served by Central Virginia Electric Coop (CVEC) that
are funded by different sources, hence the patchwork reference. Areas outside
that territory have experienced delays, including the need to ensure that fiber
easements do not infringe on historic resources or disrupt any archaeological
sites. He expects approval from the Virginia Department of Historic Resources
in the next few weeks. This will turn crews loose to get started on more fiber
installation.
Wood then outlined the connection process. After gathering data
used to design fiber installation potential users will be contacted by letter. Because
contractors are in the woods and fields Firefly contacts residents beforehand,
so they know what's going on.
"It takes about six months from when we first show up
and do a field investigation before you get connected."
Wood reiterated that Firefly has the same pricing for its
users regardless of which electric utility they use. The rate is $49.99 for a hundred-megabit
service, phone an additional $30. There use no introductory rates or data caps.
Please look at fireflyva.com and register if you have not
done so.
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