Getting closer every day

 

Living without reliable access to broadband in this day and age is a daily struggle. Last year, Firefly fiber broadband entered a partnership with Goochland and several other Central Virginia Counties as well as Central Virginia electric Coop (CVEC), Dominion Energy, and Rappahannock Electric to form the Regional Internet Service Expansion (RISE) project to bring broadband coverage to unserved areas.

Connecting all of Goochland to broadband is not a one size fits all situation. In some parts of the county, people are being connected every day. In others the initiative is still in the data gathering stages.

During its Tuesday, September 6 meeting, the Goochland Board of Supervisors received an update on the progress of broadband expansion. Gary Wood, the president, and CEO of Firefly explained that there are lots of moving parts to the project that will be completed at different times. He said that best scenarios for completion is 12 to 18 months, but he expects to have the whole county wired by 2025.

RISE partner territories

The blue areas on the map are served by CVEC. Many users here are already connected to Firefly. Wood said that work there will continue until everyone who wants service is hooked up. Approximately 100 miles of fiber has been built in the Cartersville and Shannon Hill areas of Goochland, representing 700 “passings” and an investment of more than $3.5 million.

Green indicates the area served by Rappahannock. Fiber will be placed on their poles and alongside their underground cables. Connections are expected to begin there next winter. Make-ready engineering is in process here. That means that Rappahannock will be making room on their poles for fiber, moving electric lines, or repositioning transformers. Crews, said Wood, need to look at every pole to see what changes need to be made to accommodate fiber.

The pink areas represent the Reconnect project, funded by grants from the US Department of Agriculture. This area is in the data collection phase, with connection expected to begin, fingers crossed, next winter. All of this fiber will be underground. Wood said that every stream and road crossing on this proposed fiber route must be identified before the design phase starts. He said that, while underground fiber installation starts faster, it takes longer to finish than “stringing lines on poles”.

Yellow areas are served by Dominion Energy, which is providing middle mile service. Firefly will run “laterals” off the Dominion infrastructure to make last mile connections to users. On its website https://www.dominionenergy.com/projects-and-facilities/electric-projects/rural-broadband-program Dominion indicates that “scoping and design for fiber installation” in Goochland and other areas is “gearing up” and will continue throughout 2022. Wood said that Dominion needs approval from the State Corporation Commission to build this middle mile infrastructure, which will slow completion.

Wood said that Firefly will ensure that its partners send out notifications to let people know what to expect, and when contractors are in the field. That includes the color of the trucks, and the kind of identification employees have, so people can tell if someone climbing a pole near their home is supposed to be there.

Wood said that Goochland has one of the biggest “footprints” in the RISE project, which is why it’s working in several areas. The total RISE project budget for Goochland is $35,144,395 to install 320 miles of fiber for 3,538 passings.

Installing this much fiber to provide broadband, said Wood, is a big undertaking.  Contracts with the Virginia Telecommunications Act (VATI) were signed last month. Since the project’s inception contracts became more complicated. Those that started out with two or three pages now have 20 or more, involving additional lawyers. The good news, he said, is that the contract phase is “behind us and we’re ready to get to work.”

Wood said that the “take rate,” the percentage of eligible locations that have signed up for service, is as high as 70 percent. When the project was first presented in 2017, the “take rate” estimate was projected at 35 percent. He expects more people to sign on with Firefly as their wireless contracts expire.

The map indicates that broadband availability in Goochland is very much a patchwork. Check https://www.fireflyva.com/partners-goochland/ often for updates.

Crozier area residents seeking broadband sooner rather than later might want to contact http://port80.us/

Grant funding installations for Port80 expire on October 31, so get your request in today if you live around Crozier.

Expanding broadband to all of Goochland was once considered an impossible dream. This new reality is the product of hard work and determination to succeed by many people. Kudos to all who are making this happen.