CHARLOTTSVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Albemarle County is one of beneficiaries of the Commonwealth’s Broadband, Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Final Proposal approved this week by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Agency (NTIA).

Gov. Glenn  Youngkin announced the approval of Virginia’s BEAD Final Proposal represents the last step of bringing broadband service to every Virginian, a key milestone for the Governor in his waning days in office.  

When Gov. Youngkin took office in 2022, more than 430,000 Virginians lacked access to broadband infrastructure, according to the release. Virginia has connected three times more homes than any other state, and the remaining 133,000 unserved homes, with this approval, all of these locations have broadband projects underway.

“Since the very beginning of our administration, connecting every Virginia home and business to reliable, high-speed internet has been a top priority,” Youngkin said. “This approval clears the way for us to keep this promise, with a funded broadband project for every unserved home and business in the Commonwealth. Virginia continues to be a national leader in broadband expansion and will be one of the first states in the nation to reach universal broadband access. We offer a tremendous thank you to Secretary Lutnick and Administrator Roth for their leadership in delivering this critical funding while saving taxpayer dollars.”

By approving the Final Proposal, NTIA has authorized Virginia to proceed with over $545 million in BEAD awards to 23 internet service providers to extend broadband infrastructure to more than 133,000 remaining unserved homes, businesses, and community anchor institutions across the Commonwealth.

The selected awardees will deploy an array of technologies and leverage nearly $430 million in private dollars to provide service to the last remaining unserved homes in the Commonwealth.  

Albemarle County will have 500 connected through Comcast as part of this project, while Charlottesville will have 23.

“After decades of working with state, federal, and private partners, we are thrilled to see the BEAD program move forward to connect the last 500 locations in Albemarle County,” said the county’s Broadband Accessibility and Affordability Program Manager, Jason Inofuentes.

“Our current partnerships will get Albemarle to 99.9% of universal access,” Inofuentes said.  “BEAD will not just get us to that remaining 0.1%, it also has the potential to be a significant investment in digital skills and workforce development, preparing our rural communities for the digital economy.”