Residents in some rural areas of Monongalia, Preston and Marion counties may see improved internet access soon, thanks to grant funding from the USDA.
U.S. Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) announced the nearly $5 million from the United States Department of Agriculture to expand broadband access in parts of Monongalia, Marion and Preston counties Monday.
The grants include $3 million to the Preston County Economic Development Authority and $1,960,000 to ClearFiber Inc. to construct fiber-to-premise networks.
The money will help build 84.3 miles of line in Preston and provide FTTP network access to more than 2,000 customers in Mon and Marion.
Preston County Economic Development Director Robbie Baylor was pleased to see Preston’s request approved.
“We are excited that we received the grant to provide fiber to the homes in northern Preston County,” Baylor said Monday.
The PCEDA applied in conjunction with Digital Connections, a Preston County company. It was the second time they applied together. Digital Connections had also applied for the grant on its own one time.
Work is expected to begin in the spring, and the fiber will pass by 1,337 households in the Clifton Mills, Hazelton, Lenox and Cuzzart areas of northern Preston County. According to the grant application, all households, businesses and community centers within the proposed service area will be offered service, “at the designated broadband grant speed of at least 25 Mbps down and 25 Mbps up.”
“It opens more areas of the county up to businesses that are going to need internet at broadband speed to do business,” Baylor said.
When the application was made, public comments were also sought.
“We got lots and lots of comments from people who live in that area that either couldn’t work from home or could work from home if they went out to their car and hooked up to the internet with their cell phone,” Baylor said. “People were doing what they had to [in order] to try to make it work. And hopefully really soon those days will be gone.”
The PCEDA is already talking with Digital Connections about submitting a grant in the next grant phase to extend fiber from Terra Alta to Aurora and out U.S. 50 at Aurora.
According to the USDA, money granted to ClearFiber Inc. will allow the company to “construct a broadband network in an area with no access or limited access to the internet,” in Monongalia and Marion counties.
“This new broadband network will support service at levels up to 1 Gbps for each subscriber. This project will provide community members improved access to public safety, education and health care services,” a release from the USDA notes.
ClearFiber’s Chad Henson said the company is still sorting out the details and working out a timeline with the USDA.
“It’s good news. We’ve really been working hard at this and we appreciate the USDA and Sen. Capito’s office for all their help. Basically, we’re going to get high-speed internet out into parts of Monongalia and Marion counties that have no broadband or high-speed service, as well as areas where it’s very limited.”
Henson said the work will require a substantial expansion of the company.
“Once we get a timeline in place, we’ll be ramping up employment. All our people are employed locally, so we’ll be ramping up hiring in about every aspect to make sure we can install it and maintain it,” Henson said.
Kris Warner, state director for USDA Rural Development, said the grants were much sought-after.
“This was a nationally competitive program, Community Connect, and out of 20 projects that were funded nationwide in 14 states, Monongalia and Preston got two,” he said. “We can compete and do very well when we compete at the national level, and this was an excellent opportunity today to show that.”
“Broadband is an essential tool for businesses, residents and public institutions to be competitive and prosperous in a 21st Century global economy,” Warner said. “Investing in broadband creates jobs when the projects are built, adds jobs when these projects become operational and adds jobs as broadband services are used by communities.”
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