In some areas of the state – including parts of the Middle Peninsula and portions of counties like Isle of Wight – access is limited or non-existent.
"It's not a luxury item anymore," Secretary Karen Jackson said. "Broadband is becoming as necessary as power, water and other basic services. Our kids rely on it to do homework. There's telemedicine services, working from home, and other options."
Access can also support economic development and create jobs, she said. "It's not fair for some areas in Virginia to not have broadband service available."
The state has launched a new initiative that includes a broadband access survey where residents can tell officials where they live and what access they have to the Internet, if any. "RUOnlineVA" is designed to identify pockets of the state where no broadband coverage is available but is desired by residents, Jackson said.
The results of the survey will be used to map out actual access. The state previously created a map through its wired.virginia.gov initiative dating back to 2006 but Jackson said that shows the provider coverage and not citizen access by address.
"We'll take what we have from the providers and what we get from the citizens and overlap it," Jackson said. "That will give us a more granular picture."
Gov. Terry McAuliffe has signed legislature – House bill 912 – that will allow broadband providers to install conduits that can house fiber optic cables on state highways. The governor has included $2.5 million to fund infrastructure expansion in unserved areas, which Jackson said could be identified by the survey.
"Too many Virginia communities lack access to reliable, fast and affordable Internet connections," McAuliffe said in a news release. "RUOnlineVa is an important way for the Commonwealth to engage citizens and the private sector in fully understanding the problem and working to find solutions."
Broadband access has been an issue for rural regions in Virginia for years. The Middle Peninsula Broadband Authority was established in 2010 to find a solution to the region's lack of high-speed Internet availability and has included Gloucester, Mathews, Middlesex, King William and Essex counties.
King and Queen County moved forward with its own broadband initiative, the King and Queen County Wireless Authority, partnering with Gamewood Technology Group to provide wireless broadband coverage.
Gloucester County performed its own broadband survey last year to gauge what residents really need. Residents had expressed concerns about not being able to access an Internet provider at their homes at all, and others said data caps from some of the service providers available are burdensome.
The county received almost 1,000 responses to the survey and an overwhelming majority of those who answered wanted an alternative to what they have now with higher speeds and no data caps.
Jackson said the state's primary focus now will be areas that have no access to broadband services. It's not limited to rural communities and not focusing on upgrading currently available services.
Jackson said since broadband is not a state-regulated service or utility, the state cannot make providers expand service. Instead, the state can show them were there are pockets for demand.
"This could help us to get to those areas that have nothing," she said.
Gloucester County has included $50,000 in its capital improvement plan for fiscal year 2017 for a broadband study to continue to explore options for improving broadband access. The money is expected to be used to hire a consultant to help the Board of Supervisors decide whether the county should pursue its own broadband network and how much it would cost.
©2016 the Daily Press (Newport News, Va.) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
