Two Southwest Virginia counties will receive more than $9 million combined federal funding for broadband expansion, members of Virginia’s congressional delegation have announced.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Community Connect Program is providing $5 million to Citizens Telephone Cooperative to deliver high-speed broadband for 1,838 residents and 22 businesses in Carroll County.
BARC Electric Cooperative will receive about $4.5 million for a system in Rockbridge County that will provide broadband to 816 residents and four businesses.
The USDA Community Connect Program gives financial assistance for increased broadband service in rural and economically challenged communities where connection is limited, according to releases sent this week from Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Tim Kaine (D-Va.), and U.S. Reps. Morgan Griffith (R-Salem).
Carroll County is the commonwealth’s least connected county, according to the Virginia Broadband Advisory Council, and has no scheduled projects connected to the $1 billion Virginia Telecommunication Initiative (VATI). In a 2022 survey that the county commissioned, 75% of respondents were either dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with their internet speeds, and 89% reported problems accessing common internet services.
Floyd-based Citzens co-op recently completed a construction project that brought high-speed fiber capabilities to every location in its home county. It provides internet to 11 other Southwest Virginia counties.
Rockbridge County was scheduled to receive more than $2 million from the telecommunication initiative, according to a July report from The News-Gazette, in Lexington. The county, which had not previously received VATI funding, matched that money, with its broadband partners contributing $3.9 million, according to that report.
As the USDA money flows to the co-ops and their work begins, the Community Connect Program will provide at least two years of free internet access to both counties — at Carroll County’s Dugspur Community Center and Rockbridge’s Lake Robertson Recreational Area, according to the news releases.
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