SUCCESS in the 2019 Virginia General Assembly for Broadband

Thank You For A Successful General Assembly Session

I wanted to personally say thank you to to everyone who was engaged with the General Assembly Session and to all of those who have shared their stories about the need for broadband across the Commonwealth. With $15M, a substantial increase from past years, we are excited for the future of broadband expansion.

Moving forward, we hope that the Governor's Office can find additional funds that would be acceptable to the legislature as he reviews his potential amendments. We recognize that more money is needed to fully support the broadband efforts in Virginia, we are hopeful this funding will come in future years.

In the mean time, if you have any questions or hear of new developments, please feel free to reach out to our team so we can continue the great work that all of us have been able to accomplish. Below, you will see some funding opportunities to support VRBC and broadband in Virginia.

Thanks,

Rob Jones

Executive Director

Virginia Rural Broadband Coalition

TABLE OF CONTENTS

VRBC Update

Broadband RFP's

Broadband Grants

Support VRBC

Broadband Survey

RFP for Broadband Services in Franklin County, VA

Franklin County, VA desires expansion of broadband access in unserved areas and improved capacity in underserved areas. It has selected a Public/Private Partnership model as the best solution to find and implement solutions for providing quality broadband to its citizens. The Authority is preparing to act to work with one or more private partners on financial and technical solutions to make the economics of rural broadband work. The Authority is technology-agnostic and understands the need to leverage all technologies to deliver broadband to every area and therefore is open to forming partnerships with more than one provider, including incumbents, who wish to partner with the Authority.

Franklin County RFP

Federal Funding for Broadband Projects

Community Connect Program - currently accepting applications and the deadline is April 15, 2019. Learn more and apply - Here

ReConnect Loan and Grant Program - a new $600 million pilot program for rural broadband deployment. The deadline for applications is May 31, 2019. Learn more and apply - Here

Help Support VRBC So We Can Continue Our Efforts

The Virginia Rural Broadband Coalition wants to partner with you in serving rural broadband expansion across the Commonwealth. Our Coalition is looking for solutions to provide rural broadband access to every corner of Virginia. Become a partner of VRBC to ensure every Virginian gets broadband access.

Partnership Program

Broadband Demand Survey

Over the past year, we have spoken to hundreds of Virginian's across the entire Commonwealth and we have learned about the many problems, and many solutions that communities have faced with accessing broadband.

Today, we are excited to announce that we are beginning a new campaign to capture the areas with the most need of access to broadband across Virginia.

FCC data does not truly show the demand in any area, VRBC will actively work to collect data to assess demand and use this data to help our elected officials and responsible agencies assess the true broadband needs of Virginians.

Please share this survey , or even this news letter with your community groups, friends, coworkers, and on your social media, for us to get a better understanding of the broadband needs in Virginia.

Click Here To Take Our Broadband Assessment

For more up to date information on rural broadband news in Virginia and beyond, follow us on Facebook!

Want to learn more about how to get involved or do you want to be added to our listserv to receive news & updates?

Please contact Chris Atkins, our Deputy Director, and he will add you to our mailing list!

ConnectRuralVA@gmail.com

804-648-6299

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