West Virginia can now start drawing down the $1.2 billion — yes, that is “billion” with a “b” — in Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program dollars. The federal funds are a big piece of the Biden administration’s “Internet for All” initiative, and of the three states already approved, West Virginia has received the largest allocation (more than Kansas and Nevada will receive, combined).
This is exciting news, for sure, but access to the funds does not equate to an overnight fix for West Virginia’s persistent broadband issues. Rather, this is the start of a longer process; but any project needs capital before it can even get the ball rolling, and that $1.2 billion is a great start.
The Mountain State suffers from multiple internet connectivity problems. On the one hand, we still have large swaths where there is no broadband, period, despite years of investment and millions of dollars thrown at internet providers — dollars that may as well have been tossed into a blackhole for all the (lack of) work we have to show for it. As a state, we still struggle to get that “last mile” connection to many homes. Many companies find it too expensive to install physical broadband connections (think, telephone poles or buried fiberoptic cables) in West Virginia’s more remote areas, especially when there may only be one or two houses that would be serviced. But those one or two houses still deserve affordable access to quality internet.
The other problem is quality broadband connection. According to a recent analysis by HighSpeedInternet.com, West Virginians pay more than almost any other state for internet at $1.88 per megabit per second (Mbps). Only Alaska and Montana pay more; the average price is 85 cents for average speed. On top of that, West Virginia’s median internet speed is only 45 Mbps, compared to the national median of 85 Mbps. For the record, the Federal Communications Commission defines “good” internet speed as 100 Mbps or greater.
In short: In many places, there is little-to-no internet connectivity, and where there is, West Virginians pay higher prices for lower quality.
In the modern era, internet is essential: to connecting with loved ones, to education, to work and to other types of social and economic engagement. In terms of broadband connectivity, this BEAD funding can easily catapult West Virginia into the 21st century within the next decade — as long as those dollars are spent wisely. Hopefully, because these are federal funds, there will be more oversight and accountability than there has been in the past; we’ve been burned before by internet providers happily pocketing state funds and providing nothing in return. And we can’t afford — both literally and metaphorically — for that to keep happening.
