Broadband extension project in Eastern Henrico earns $725k in federal funding

Henrico County’s effort to ensure broadband access for all county residents and businesses is getting a boost from the federal government.

During a press conference Monday at the Varina Area Library, U.S. Representative Jennifer McClellan (D-4th District) formally presented a check for $725,000 to county officials – money that will match an identical investment from the county and complete the funding for a $6.5-million effort to extend broadband internet capacity to the far reaches of the Varina District.

The project, expected to begin next spring, will run fiber optic broadband infrastructure across about 87 miles in deep Varina, providing access for more 376 homes, 35 businesses and 14 other sites there that currently lack high-speed internet. Completion of the project will mean that all of Henrico County has access to broadband service.

That access, said Henrico County Information Technology Director Travis Sparrow, “is not a luxury item but rather is a vital tool for managing a home, or running a business or simply navigating life in the 21st century. Thanks to Representative McClellan and her team, this federal funding will go a long way toward helping us make essential broadband service available to all Henrico County residents.”

Henrico Board of Supervisors Chairman and Varina District Supervisor Tyrone Nelson echoed Sparrow’s sentiments.

“As one who grew up in this rural community, I know firsthand just how important it is for residents to have equal access to resources and opportunities,” Nelson said. “Without question, broadband access is essential to the life of those who are living in the 21st century. It’s a core service like utilities, electricity and water, and if we hadn’t realized it before then, the pandemic showed us exactly that.”

Dominion Energy ($3 million) and All Points Broadband ($1.5 million) last year had announced their contributions to the effort, for which the county also obtained about $501,000 in funding through the Virginia Telecommunications Initiative grant. McClellan last month announced that she had secured funding to assist with the project, which was among 15 projects in her community for which she obtained a total of about $15 million in funding through the U.S. House of Representatives’ Community Project Funding process.

New access to broadband for the affected residents and businesses in Varina through All Points Broadband is expected to cost a $199 installation fee plus monthly fees of $59.99, $89.99 or $119.99 for three tiers of service, which differ in download speeds of 50/50 megabits, 100/100 megabits and 1 gigabit per second, according to the Henrico County Department of Information Technology.

Completion of the project will help level the playing field countywide, Nelson said.

“As a county we talk a lot about creating one Henrico – building a community that sees, serves and respects everyone,” he said. “By making universal broadband a reality in Henrico County, we will be another step closer to that vision of one Henrico.”

Added McClellan: “We will be able to deliver meaningful digital equity and internet inclusion to more Virginians. . . In this modern day and age, quality access to the internet means being able to work from home, learn from home and have access to a wide variety of commercial opportunities from your home or wherever you need to be.”

The Community Project Funding process in the U.S. House (and the similar Congressionally Directed Spending program in the U.S. Senate) in 2022 replaced the previous use of “earmarks” (line-item insertions into spending bills that typically were designed to fund specific projects in members’ districts).

Through the new process, which was designed to be more transparent, representatives and senators may submit a limited number of funding requests and must prove that they have no conflicts of interest related to any of their requests. Upon approval of some or all of the requests, the U.S. Government Accountability Office becomes involved to track the funds and their usage.

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