Gov Northam (D-VA) Announces Major Investment to Accelerate Virginia’s Progress Towards Universal Broadband Access

Gov Ralph Northam (D-VA) announced his proposed budget will feature major investments in Virginia in support of broadband infrastructure, the first installment of a historic commitment to expanding access to all unserved Virginians. The governor’s proposal would increase funding for the Virginia Telecommunications Initiative (VATI), a program that incentivizes internet service providers to expand their service to Virginians that are unserved, to $50 million in Fiscal Year 2020. The funding would be a significant increase to the $4 million already appropriated on an annual basis. This state funding will be matched by local, federal, and private funds, helping to connect tens of thousands more Virginians. Additional investments will support the technical expertise needed to assist local governments in developing detailed plans to connect all their citizens. Gov Northam envisions these commitments as the first installments of a multi-year investment totaling $250 million over the coming years, providing connection speeds significantly greater than 10 megabits (10,000,000 bits) per second. For comparison, standard dial-up speeds are 56 kilobits (56,000 bits) per second.