Biden-Harris Administration Awards More Than $5.7 Million to West Virginia in ‘Internet for All’ Planning Grants

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced that West Virginia received its first “Internet for All” grants for deploying high-speed Internet networks and developing digital skills training programs under the Biden-Harris Administration’s Internet for All initiative. West Virginia is receiving $5,728,065.00 in funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to plan for the deployment and adoption of affordable, equitable, and reliable high-speed Internet service throughout the state. 

West Virginia will receive $5 million to fund various activities including:

• Identification of unserved and underserved locations within the state;
• Training and increasing capacity of the broadband office;
• Asset mapping across West Virginia to catalog high-speed Internet adoption, affordability, equity, access and deployment;
• Surveying communities to better understand barriers to high-speed Internet adoption;
• Development of a 5-year action plan to help the WV Broadband project make data-driven;
• decisions and invest in communities with the greatest need;
• Awarding funding to West Virginia University and Marshall University.

West Virginia will receive $728,065.00 to fund various activities including:

• Development of a statewide digital equity plan;
• Creation of a digital equity program within WV Broadband;
• Funding pilot programs.