Virginia receives $1.48 billion in federal broadband grants

The Biden administration approved $1.48 billion in grants to Virginia, based on the state’s plan. Youngkin called it the first in the nation submitted under the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment, or BEAD, Program created by the infrastructure law that Congress passed in late 2021. The federal government first announced Virginia’s eligibility for the grants last summer.

“With the resources we are securing today, we can close the digital divide and ensure all Virginians have access to high-speed internet,” Youngkin said Friday, touting the state’s investment in broadband telecommunications as a “one key ingredient” in CNBC naming Virginia as the top state for business.

The Biden administration praised both Virginia and New Mexico, which will receive $675 million in federal grants, for the plans they submitted to expand broadband networks to all homes and businesses in their states.

“It means that Virginia can now move from planning to action,” said Alan Davidson, assistant secretary of commerce and administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.

“This is our opportunity to connect everyone in America with the digital tools they need to thrive in a modern, digital economy,” Davidson said in an online media briefing on Friday with Bryan Horn, the governor’s broadband adviser and director of the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development, which will administer the grants for the state.

Horn estimated that the federal money will allow Virginia to reach more than 100,000 locations that currently lack access to coverage, including those outside of urban areas. “It’s almost every locality around the state that has these locations,” he said.

Many of the homes and businesses lacking service lie in rural areas, Davidson said, “but you don’t have to go very far outside of urban areas to see places where there are needs.”

The announcement marks a rare example of the Biden and Youngkin administrations sharing the spotlight, taking credit for carrying out the federal commitment to universal broadband access under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

Virginia Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, who played a lead role in negotiating the law’s passage by the U.S. Senate, said, “Virginia has a strong plan to get us closer to universal coverage, and this funding will help make that plan a reality.”

“I’m proud to have authored and negotiated the law that made this possible, and I’m ready to work to make sure it’s implemented as quickly and efficiently as possible, so more Virginians have access to high-speed internet,” Warner said Friday.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Jennifer McClellan and Republican U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith — representing urban and rural areas far removed from each other, geographically and politically, in the commonwealth — also praised the federal investment in Virginia’s broadband telecommunications networks.

“In today’s increasingly digital world, broadband is a necessity — not a luxury,” said McClellan, who represents Richmond, part of Chesterfield and Hanover counties, the Tri-Cities area around Petersburg and rural localities extending from the Peninsula to the North Carolina line.

Griffith represents 28 counties and cities in Southwest Virginia.

“Everybody’s in favor of infrastructure,” said Evan Feinman, director of the BEAD Program and former broadband adviser to onetime Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam.

During the past year, Virginia has been working with Feinman’s office, part of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, to review the state’s plan, including provisions to ensure low-cost internet options for families that otherwise couldn’t afford the monthly cost.

“I’m really glad Virginia got over the finish line,” he said in a phone interview on Friday.

Horn confirmed that Virginia’s plan requires internet service providers to offer “a low-cost option” for customers who otherwise couldn’t afford internet service.

Virginia’s plan guarantees a monthly cost ranging between $30 to $70 for eligible families, with the subsidy varying with the cost of providing the service in different parts of the state.

“It’s a high-speed internet package at a low market rate, effectively,” Feinman said.

The Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development will administer the grants in conjunction with other state funding under the Virginia Telecommunications Initiative. The BEAD Program is distributing almost $42.5 billion nationwide to carry out the infrastructure initiative.

Since 2017, Virginia has spent more than $935 million in state and federal funds to expand broadband networks to 388,000 locations in 80 cities and counties across the state. That funding has been matched by $1.1 billion from local government and private internet service providers.

“Virginia has been a national leader in the broadband arena and the approved proposal lays out a comprehensive approach to connect all Virginians through state and federal resources,” Horn said in the announcement.