Broadband’s rural reach: How electric co-ops reduce the digital divide

Electric co-ops are stepping up to close the digital divide. An effort in Virginia has connected 30,000 rural residents to the internet through fiber since 2017 and plans to hook up another 200,000 in the next three to five years. The work is being driven by the Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware Association of Broadband Cooperatives, which was established to provide a “singular, unifying voice for cooperative broadband interests.” Co-operatives are not driven by profits. While some states have been slow to embrace co-ops as broadband providers, some co-op-based broadband providers in Virginia have been pushing rural connectivity for a while.  Broadband uses most of the same infrastructure the co-ops do to provide electricity, including public rights of way. This next phase of fiber deployment across Virginia could be challenging, however, due to the topography of the communities and low population density. A combination of state and federal grants have helped support the co-operatives in their buildout throughout Virginia, including funds from the Federal Communications Commission’s Universal Service Fund and the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development.