Category: Telecommunications
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Dominion, Apco Leverage Grid Investments to Promote Rural Broadband
by James A. Bacon Virginia’s investor-owned utilities, Dominion Energy and Appalachian Power Co., could become key players in the Northam administration’s push to extend broadband access to rural communities. A State Corporation Commission ruling is expected today on an Apco proposal to extend “middle mile” broadband in partnership with Bluefield-based GigaBeam Networks, which will provide…
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Rural Broadband Projects Vary Widely in ROI
by James A. Bacon Last week Governor Ralph Northam announced $18.3 million in Virginia Telecommunication Initiative grants to support 12 projects across the state. Leveraging $35 million in local and private matching funds, the projects will connect about 36,000 households, including thousands of businesses and “community anchor” institutions — an average state subsidy of roughly…
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Booming Telework Spurs Job Growth in Rural Virginia
by James A. Bacon The Internet, pundits long predicted, would emancipate people from the necessity of living near where they worked. The connectivity provided by cell phones, laptops and broadband would allow people to plug in at home…. or even while lounging by the pool or on the beach. It was a nice fantasy, but…
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Bacon Bits: Quick Clips
5G rollout reaches Virginia. Outside of Crystal City and the Reagan National Airport, Hampton Roads is the first region in Virginia to enjoy 5G cellular access. Verizon has announced that its 5G Ultra Wideband mobility service is available in the Virginia Beach Oceanfront, downtown Norfolk, Newport News, Old Dominion University, Hampton, Chesapeake, and other high-traffic…
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Why Is Expanding Broadband Still Such a Problem?
by Peter Galuszka U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-7th) has drawn lots of attention for her Rural Broadband Summit at Louisa County High School in Mineral on Aug. 17, which got plenty of comment from primarily rural residents unhappy that they can’t get access to quick, reliable Internet service. Good for Spanberger, who beat Republican Dave…
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Hey, Why Not Satellites for Rural Broadband Access?
Everyone can agree, I think, that broadband Internet service is an essential utility for Virginia’s rural areas. There appears to be a wide base of support for the commonwealth to expend modest sums of money to help extend broadband to rural Virginians where the population density is insufficient to attract fiber-optic and wireless investment by…
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Bacon Bits: Rural Development Edition
Seeding entrepreneurship. The Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority has approved $180,000 in seed-capital grants up to $10,000 for businesses that have been operating less than a year and have fewer than 10 full-time employees. The new businesses are projected to create $770,000 in total private investment and create 135 full-time and part-time jobs. Assuming the…
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Who’s Got Broadband and Who Doesn’t?
This map, published today by the Virginia Public Access Project, shows clearly the metropolitan/rural divide in access to broadband Internet access. Some rural areas obviously enjoy better broadband service than others. Look at the cluster of counties to the south and west of the Washington metropolitan area. Look at the cities and counties running down the I-81…
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Small-Cell Broadband Comes to Fredericksburg
Fredericksburg soon could become the next city in Virginia with super-fast broadband, reports the Free Lance-Star. City Council approved a deal last week granting Cox Wireless Access LLC a 10-year, non-exclusive franchise to install the small-cell facilities that enable the next-generation 5G telecommunications network. That decision follows previous deals with ExteNet to install 14 facilities on utility poles around…
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Va Beach Snags Third Trans-Atlantic Cable
South Atlantic Express International Ltd. plans to build a high-speed data cable to connect South Africa with Virginia Beach. The third trans-Atlantic cable terminating in Hampton Road, it would provide yet another stimulus to Virginia’s burgeoning data center industry. As a bonus, ACA International will relocate its headquarters from Northern Virginia to Virginia Beach. The…
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5G Wireless: Build, Baby, Build!
The latest wave of wireless innovation is upon us — fifth generation wireless, otherwise known as 5G. The technology will multiply download speeds by 10 times or more, allowing wireless carriers to compete with cable companies for high-speed Internet access. As former FCC trade commissioner Robert McDowell writes in the Wall Street Journal today: 5G…
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Yet Another Path to Rural Broadband: Other Peoples’ Money
Speaking of bringing broadband Internet to rural Virginia (see previous post)… PamunkeyNet, a business entity of the Pamunkey Indian Tribe, has received approval from the GO Virginia State Board to develop a plan to bring broadband to Gloucester, Mathews, Middlesex and other rural counties along the Chesapeake Bay. The newly awarded federal designation of the…
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Another Path to Rural Broadband: Electric Co-ops
The Central Virginia Electric Cooperative has been delivering electricity to the inhabitants of 14 Central Virginia localities for 80 years. Now it’s planning to provide high-bandwidth Internet connections. The company has announced a plan to invest $11o million to connect all 36,000 co-op members. Co-op members will be able to purchase 100 megabits per second…
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Broadband Boondoggles in Southwest Virginia
Throughout the Central Appalachian region — Virginia, West Virginia and Kentucky — community leaders have a keen understanding that they must find new industries to replace coal. And there is a near universal conviction that any hope to diversify local economies requires high-bandwidth connections to the outside world. This conviction has led to a series…
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Living with Slow Internet in a Broadband World
If you don’t live in a small town or rural community, you probably don’t have a clue how difficult it is to participate in the 21st-century economy. But a Roanoke Times article paints a vivid picture of life in South Boston and Halifax County in Virginia’s Southside region. Television producer Kevin Peade started his business…