Rural Broadband Planning Initiative

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SUMMARY

Project to bring widespread high-speed Internet access to the Northern Neck. This is a state-wide initiative, administered by the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development. The first step was the completion of a regional broadband study and reports---Phase I Report (1.4MB, PDF). Phase II and Final Report (3.5MB, PDF)---followed by two American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) applications, both of which were not funded by the Federal Government. Broadband efforts continue in the fall of 2010 by exploring a public/private partnership with wireless technology firms.

Map of broadband availability in Virginia (launched in June 2011)

ACTIVITY

2011-08-15

The Northern Neck Broadband Authority (NNBA) is currently exploring new technology that could provide wider coverage of high-speed Internet services in the region.

2010-09-30

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the Broadband Technology Opportunity Program (BTOP) informed the Northern Neck Planning District Commission that the NNPDC's second-round application to build a regional, "middle-mile" fiber network would not be funded. As today marks the end of the federal government's efforts to invest in broadband infrastructure via the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), the four counties of the Northern Neck will have to look for alternative sources of funding to build the Northern Neck region's broadband network.

2010-08-27

The Northern Neck PDC requests proposals and qualification statements from firms experienced and qualified to conduct final planning, engineering, design and inspection services, if construction funding is received from NTIA. The respondents will be evaluated based on the following criteria: 1. Qualification of firm’s staff. 2. Familiarity with broadband planning, design, engineering & inspection activities. 3. Capacity of firm to perform the work within limited time-frame. 4. Quality of performance in past and!or similar projects. 5. Knowledge and familiarity of firm’s staff with NTJA’s Grant procedures and requirements. The RFP/Q is also available for download here.

2010-07-20

Due diligence for the Northern Neck Broadband Authority's second-round ARRA application has been completed. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and Broadband Technology Opportunity Program (BTOP) will be contacting the NNBA with additional requests, if needed.

2010-06-08

Special meeting for the Northern Neck Broadband Authority to prepare for the due diligence process that the Northern Neck Broadband Authority's second-round ARRA application has to undergo next. The due diligence phase of the application was just announced by National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and Broadband Technology Opportunity Program (BTOP).

2010-05-05

First official public meeting for the Northern Neck Broadband Authority---convened to appoint officers and adopt the bylaws. For the moment, meetings will take place quarterly. Members agreed to wait until NTIA announces grant awards for Round Two of ARRA funding (expected in the fall of 2010) before holding the next meeting.

2010-03-26

Icon Broadband Technologies and Consulting Gateway Corporation submitted, on behalf of the four counties of the Northern Neck, an application for the second round of ARRA broadband funding for the construction of a regional fiber network. The application requests $5,018,863 in funding.

2010-02-19

The Northern Neck PDC received a letter from NTIA today, stating: "While your application was reviewed in the due diligence phase, it was not rated highly enough for an award by Program staff. Specifically, after analyzing the proposal, Program staff concluded that the applicant did not convincingly demonstrate the ability of the project to be sustained beyond the funding period. Accordingly, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) cannot further consider your application for an award." A letter also arrived today from USDA, stating: "RUS [Rural Utilities Service] completed an initial screening of your application...and determined that it was not eligible to proceed to the next stage of processing under BIP [Broadband Initiatives Program]."

2009-10-19

The Northern Neck Broadband Authority has been created, with five members (the county administrators from Lancaster, Northumberland, Richmond, and Westmoreland Counties, plus the chairman of the Northern Neck-Chesapeake Bay Region Partnership). The PDC expects to hear soon about the status of the region's ARRA application for middle-mile construction funding.

2009-08-18

The four counties of the Northern Neck have announced public meetings to discuss the creation of a regional broadband authority to be called the Northern Neck Broadband Authority. Its role will be to administer the construction and management of the regional fiber network expected to be built as funds become available.

Schedule of Meetings:

Lancaster County
Thursday, September 24, 2009, 7:00 p.m.

Northumberland County
Thursday, September 10, 2009, 7:00 p.m.

Richmond County
Thursday, September 10, 2009, 7:00 p.m.

Westmoreland County
Monday, September 14, 2009, 10:00 a.m.

2009-08-14

Icon Broadband Technologies and Consulting Gateway Corporation submitted, on behalf of the four counties of the Northern Neck and the six counties of the Middle Peninsula, an ARRA application to fund the construction of a regional fiber network infrastructure. Read the Executive Summary of the application here.

Details:

Applicant: Northern Neck Planning District Commission, Warsaw, VA

Project Title: Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula Regional Broadband Network

Program: BIP/BTOP

Project Type: Middle Mile

Grant request*: $ 13,988,941

Status: Application Received

Description: The Northern Neck Planning District Commission regional, middle-mile project consists of approximately 223 miles of new fiber-optic cable, wireless towers, and networking equipment designed to enhance broadband services by partnering with private providers across 10 counties (4 in the Northern Neck and 6 in the Middle Peninsula). The project will provide broadband access to more than 20,000 homes and businesses that currently have limited or no broadband.

*For BIP/BTOP joint applications, grant amount reflects grant request for BIP.

2009-08-03

Representatives from the four Northern Neck and several Middle Peninsula counties met to discuss the possibility of submitting an application for 19 million dollars of stimulus (ARRA) funds for the construction of "middle mile" fiber infrastructure in the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula.

2009-02-04

News Item: Telecommunications workers have begun to extend the fiber-optic network from Virginia Beach to the Eastern Shore by installing cables along the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. This is the same network that the Northern Neck plans to connect to in order to create a fiber-optic ring around the Chesapeake Bay. More details at the Virginia Pilot Online.

2008-11-05

Phase II is now under way. It will cost $168,000, with a local match of 10% from each of the participating counties in the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula.

According to Icon Broadband Technologies (IBT), the consultant in charge of this part of the project, "The Phase II tasks will result in a comprehensive Community Broadband Plan for improving telecommunications in the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula regions."

The tasks will focus on the following:

Selecting Last Mile and Main Network Connectivity Solutions

Determining extent of Fiber and Network Architecture with Conceptual Design and Cost Estimates

Selecting the Organizational Governance and Structure of the Network

Creating a Funding Plan

Creating an Implementation Plan

The Project Manager for Phase II is Keith Hill of Consulting Gateways Corporation. He and the Northern Neck Planning District Commission will be working with the Mid-Atlantic Broadband Cooperative (MBC) on this part of the project.

Completion of Phase II is expected in April 2009.

2008-02-29

Phase I of the Virginia Rural Broadband Planning Initiative has been completed. This phase consisted primarily of residential and business surveys performed by Icon Broadband Technologies (IBT), which mailed out 9,000 print surveys to residences in the region and 1,500 to businesses.

The Northern Neck and five Middle Peninsula counties were part of the assessment, with funds provided by the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD).

IBT has released the final report for Phase I ("Needs Assessment and Broadband Education"). As expected, results found a "clear need of high speed connectivity options" in the region, the report said. "Residents and businesses have computers and Internet access, [but] the region lags far behind the nation in high-speed access."

This reality is far more serious if one considers data from the 2006 World Telecommunications Indicators Database, published by the International Telecommunications Union, whose numbers reveal that, from 2002 to 2005, the United States "fell from 11th to 16th in the world in terms of the percentage of residents with broadband subscriptions, ranking behind such countries as Japan, Korea, Sweden, Canada, and Switzerland, just to name a few."

This is the reason why the Commonwealth of Virginia, through its Rural Broadband Planning Initiative, wants to make broadband connectivity a reality for all businesses in the state by 2010. And it plans to get there by investing public funds to connect educational institutions, hospitals, and healthcare facilities.