As recently as November 2024, Carroll County was Virginia\u2019s least internet-connected locality, and residents were frustrated.<\/p>\n
If Virginia\u2019s latest recommendations for federal broadband funding go through, the internet will reach most everyone there \u2014 and elsewhere in the commonwealth, officials said this week.<\/p>\n
The state\u2019s Department of Housing and Community Development, which administers broadband deployment, on Monday published its Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment awards program recommendations. The document proposes $613 million in federal funding, which upon the Department of Commerce\u2019s approval would connect the final 133,500 Virginia residences, businesses and community buildings that high-speed internet has not yet reached, according to a news release from Gov. Glenn Youngkin\u2019s office.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s welcome news in Carroll County, where a 2022 survey showed<\/a> that 75% of respondents were either dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with their internet speeds, and 89% reported problems accessing common internet services.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have had a difficult time getting to this point, but pretty much all the locations will have fiber to the homes, which is the best option that you can get for high-speed internet,\u201d Carroll County Administrator Mike Watson said in a Thursday phone call. \u201cSo we\u2019re hoping within the next two years, all Carroll County will have access and the availability for high-speed internet.\u201d<\/p>\n That goes for the rest of the state\u2019s unserved and underserved \u2014 and mostly rural \u2014 areas, all while saving taxpayers $200 million, Youngkin said in the news release.\u00a0<\/p>\n The federal program known as BEAD followed the Biden administration\u2019s pandemic-era American Recovery Plan Act in providing money for nationwide broadband deployment.<\/p>\n A public comment period opened late Monday afternoon and expires at midnight Aug. 13. The housing department will accept only comments emailed to broadband@dhcd.virginia.gov<\/a>. The state will submit its final proposal to the Commerce Department after that.<\/p>\n Youngkin\u2019s office said that the Trump administration\u2019s recently revised BEAD application rules eliminated \u201cred tape\u201d that allowed for a 25% savings from DHCD\u2019s previous cost estimate of $815 million.\u00a0<\/p>\n State officials made that estimate before the Commerce Department published a notice<\/a> that eliminated requirements for affordability options; sections related to labor practices; and contracting with minority- and women-owned businesses, among other measures.\u00a0<\/p>\n Non-deployment funding, which in Virginia featured getting cellular service to all points in the commonwealth, was also suspended indefinitely.<\/p>\n