Will BEAD Networks Deliver Affordable Broadband for All in West Virginia?

West Virginia's plan for Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program funds aims to ensure that every resident has access to reliable, affordable, and high-speed broadband and the ability to use it effectively. The cost of high-speed broadband internet service in West Virginia remains a significant barrier to adoption. According to the West Virginia Department of Economic Development's (WVDED) 2023 Five-Year Action Plan, up to 57 percent of West Virginians may find broadband internet access unaffordable. West Virginia’s affordability gap is particularly pronounced in rural areas, where high deployment costs and limited competition have driven prices beyond affordability for the area’s lower-than-average income households. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act’s BEAD provisions are premised on Congress’s determination that “[a]ccess to affordable, reliable, high-speed broadband is essential to full participation in modern life in the United States,” and that “[t]he persistent ‘digital divide’ in the United States is a barrier to” the nation’s “economic competitiveness [and the] equitable distribution of essential public services, including health care and education.” While broadband is a necessary condition to connect all West Virginians, WVDED recognizes that increased broadband infrastructure alone is not sufficient. Digital equity has been a key consideration throughout the broadband planning process to ensure that West Virginians who have been on the wrong side of the digital divide have the tools and support they need to use the internet in a way that allows them to reach their fullest potential. So the state's primary digital equity goal is to "Ensure broadband access is available and affordable for all West Virginians."