West Virginia Governor Justice partners with Comcast to connect 2,100+ unserved West Virginia homes and businesses

Gov. Jim Justice (R-WV) has officially signed West Virginia’s Line Extension Advancement and Development (LEAD) program grants for Comcast to begin construction activities to connect more than 2,100 unserved homes and businesses across the state. Comcast will begin to execute the buildout plan for two projects totaling more than $10 million, enabled in part by a $7.5 million state grant to provide more residents in Brooke, Cabell, Hancock, Morgan, Ohio, and Putnam counties access to Comcast’s smart, fast and reliable fiber network. This expansion will add almost 200 additional route miles of fiber to connect unserved residents to the full suite of Xfinity residential and Comcast Business services, including broadband Internet speeds of up to 1.2 gigabits per second (Gbps) for residences and up to 100 Gbps for businesses. Funding for the WVBIP’s LEAD program is provided through the West Virginia Legislature’s allocation of $100 million to create the West Virginia Broadband Development Fund. The fund includes $90 million in funding through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and $10 million in state general revenue funds. Funds are also derived through the ARPA Capital Projects Fund, which includes $136 million for broadband development in West Virginia. The West Virginia Department of Economic Development’s Office of Broadband will administer program funds.