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FCC authorizing funds in Virginia for rural broadband

Posted at 11:39 AM, Jun 10, 2019
and last updated 2019-06-10 11:40:47-04

WASHINGTON – The FCC authorized almost $37 million in funding to expand broadband to nearly 13,900 unserved rural Virginia homes and businesses in 34 counties.

These funds are going to be distributed from last year’s successful Connect America Fund Phase II auction.

Providers will begin receiving funding this month. The Connect America Fund Phase II auction is part of the FCC’s efforts to close the digital divide in rural America.

The FCC recently provided 186 companies in 43 states $65.7 million in additional annual funding to upgrade broadband speeds in rural communities, and offered incentives for over 500 rural carriers to provide faster broadband to over 1 million rural homes and businesses.

Chairman Pai of the FCC also announced his intention to create the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, which will provide $20.4 billion over the next decade to connect approximately four million rural homes and businesses to high-speed broadband, representing the FCC’s single biggest step yet to close the digital divide.

Nationwide, the auction last fall allocated $1.488 billion in support to expand broadband to more than 700,000 unserved rural homes and small businesses over the next 10 years. As of now, the first two rounds of authorizations are providing $278.4 million nationwide over the next decade to expand service to 97,998 new locations.

Over the coming months, the FCC will be authorizing additional funding as it approves the final applications of the winning bidders from the auction.

“I’m pleased to announce that funding starts now for buildout of high-speed Internet service to nearly 13,900 rural Virginia homes and businesses, which will bring them to the right side of the digital divide and give them access to the 21st-century opportunities that broadband offers,” said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai.  “Providers will be deploying gigabit-speed connections to all the locations for which funding is being authorized today, making cutting-edge broadband available to these rural consumers.”

Below is a list of the companies, by county, receiving support in Virginia in the June funding wave, along with the number of homes and locations, the amount of support over 10 years, and the minimum download/upload speeds being provided:

County

Company

Minimum Speed

Support/10 Years

Locations

Albemarle

Central Virginia Services

1 Gbps/500 Mbps

$722,495

          398

Amherst

Central Virginia Services

1 Gbps/500 Mbps

$7,180,472

        2,200

Appomattox

Central Virginia Services

1 Gbps/500 Mbps

$4,076,713

        1,759

Augusta

BARConnects

1 Gbps/500 Mbps

$1,305,190

          582

Bath

BARConnects

1 Gbps/500 Mbps

$314,175

174

Botetourt

BARConnects

1 Gbps/500 Mbps

$1,165,579

388

Brunswick

EMPOWER Broadband

1 Gbps/500 Mbps

$1,868,320

838

Buckingham

Central Virginia Services

1 Gbps/500 Mbps

$1,684,113

426

Chesapeake

Verizon South

1 Gbps/500 Mbps

$12,794

2

Chesapeake

Verizon Virginia

1 Gbps/500 Mbps

$71,995

9

Chesterfield

Verizon Virginia

1 Gbps/500 Mbps

$400,746

118

Culpeper

Verizon Virginia

1 Gbps/500 Mbps

$74,855

23

Cumberland

Central Virginia Services

1 Gbps/500 Mbps

$2,888,183

1,137

Fairfax

Verizon South

1 Gbps/500 Mbps

$24,800

8

Fairfax

Verizon Virginia

1 Gbps/500 Mbps

$64,365

32

Fluvanna

Central Virginia Services

1 Gbps/500 Mbps

$110,489

9

Goochland

Central Virginia Services

1 Gbps/500 Mbps

$1,228,589

561

Hampton

Verizon Virginia

1 Gbps/500 Mbps

$21,115

7

Henrico

Verizon Virginia

1 Gbps/500 Mbps

$22,480

8

James City

Verizon Virginia

1 Gbps/500 Mbps

$82,715

22

Louisa

Central Virginia Services

1 Gbps/500 Mbps

$1,785,103

939

Nelson

Central Virginia Services

1 Gbps/500 Mbps

$8,790,729

3,346

Newport News

Verizon Virginia

1 Gbps/500 Mbps

$96,012

25

Orange

Central Virginia Services

1 Gbps/500 Mbps

$136,070

52

Portsmouth

Verizon Virginia

1 Gbps/500 Mbps

$32,359

25

Powhatan

Verizon Virginia

1 Gbps/500 Mbps

$23,185

9

Prince William

Verizon South

1 Gbps/500 Mbps

$79,279

20

Richmond

Verizon Virginia

1 Gbps/500 Mbps

$73,309

18

Rockbridge

BARConnects

1 Gbps/500 Mbps

$2,189,294

590

Spotsylvania

Verizon South

1 Gbps/500 Mbps

$21,165

5

Spotsylvania

Verizon Virginia

1 Gbps/500 Mbps

$136,703

35

Virginia Beach

Verizon Virginia

1 Gbps/500 Mbps

$70,929

21

Williamsburg

Verizon Virginia

1 Gbps/500 Mbps

$19,461

3

York

Verizon Virginia

1 Gbps/500 Mbps

$208,981

66

Total

$36,982,763

     13,855

If you’d like to learn more about the auction, click here and for a map of the winning bids, click here.