Senator Warner and U.S. Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra announced today that Virginia will receive over $21.5 million to expand broadband and high-speed Internet access throughout southside Virginia. The investments will help bridge the technological divide, boost economic growth, and create jobs in the region.

The grants will come from the economic recovery package and were awarded by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Broadband Technology Opportunities Program, which provides grants to support the deployment of broadband infrastructure in unserved and underserved areas.

The grants were awarded to two projects will go toward two projects:

• Mid-Atlantic Broadband Cooperative: $16 million infrastructure grant (with an additional $4 million in applicant-provided matching funds) to add 465 miles of new fiber that will directly connect 121 K-12 schools in Southern Virginia to an existing 800-mile fiber high-speed network.
  
  By improving connection speeds for these schools from 1.5 Mbps to at least10 Mbps, these new fiber connections will allow the schools, many in isolated areas, to take advantage of distance learning and virtual classroom opportunities.
  
  The expanded fiber network also will spur affordable broadband service to local consumers by enabling more than 30 Internet service providers to connect to the project’s open network. [Click here to see a list of the schools that will benefit from the broadband money.]

• Virginia Tech Foundation, Inc.: $5.5 million infrastructure grant (with an additional $1.4 million in applicant-provided matching funds) to add 110 miles of open access fiber-optic network between Blacksburg and Bedford City.
  
  The resulting network will cross six counties (Bedford, Botetourt, Craig, Giles, Montgomery, and Roanoke Counties) in Virginia’s Appalachian region, and provide direct high-speed connections to Virginia Tech’s main campus in Blacksburg and the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine in Roanoke, enhancing the ability for both institutions to collaborate on cutting-edge medical and other scientific research with institutions in the United States and abroad.

Senator Warner, who has been a champion for broadband access in rural areas since his term as Governor of Virginia, said today he is excited about the progress that will be made through these so-called “middle-mile” projects:

These stimulus dollars are going to create two separate paths for job creation. The first will be through immediate jobs created through the installation of fiber-optic and broadband cables. More important is the economic growth and activity that will come to our rural communities from having the high-speed connectivity. … Broadband access doesn’t guarantee that you will attract 21st Century jobs, but if you don’t have it, you won’t even be considered.

This is a step in the right direction and we’d like to see more of this. It’s important that grants like these are made in a timely manner so these jobs can be created to help get our economy back on track.

As Virginia governor, Warner helped to create the Mid-Atlantic Broadband Cooperative, a partnership between the public and private sectors to find ways to increase affordable broadband access and attract business and good jobs throughout the commonwealth. Last year, Senator Warner hosted the Virginia Summit on Broadband Access, to help Virginia's small businesses, non-profits, and local governments learn how to apply for federal broadband programs.

For more information on how to apply for the second batch of broadband stimulus funds -- which is expected to be awarded later this year -- visit Broadband USA. 

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$21.5M in stimulus funds headed to region
The Martinsville Bulletin reports on the announcement of the stimulus funds that will be used to expand broadband Internet infrastructure in Southside and Southwest Virginia.