by Jackie Nunnery
HEATHSVILLE—The Northumberland board of supervisors on Wednesday, November 10, asked Jimmy Carr, chief executive officer of All Points Broadband (APB), to provide an update on the first phase of a region-wide multi-county connectivity project.
The project is expected to deliver fiber-optic broadband to 7,200 homes currently unserved in King George, Northumberland, Richmond and Westmoreland counties as announced in July. Utilizing a $10.3 million Virginia Telecommunications Initiative (VATI) grant, APB will lease the middle mile fiber from Dominion Energy and Northern Neck Electric Cooperative (NNEC), and extend the “last mile” fiber to unserved homes. In Northumberland County, more than 2,000 unserved homes are expected to see service in the next two years, with $650,000 in county funding already committed to the project.
According to Carr, the project received the final go-ahead from VATI in September to begin construction of the VATI funded areas. “It took a little longer than we hoped, but we’re dealing with significant state and federal programs,” he said.
The final approval and release of federal funding for phase two, $8.5 million in Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) funding, will take place in December….
