CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia is one step closer to receiving $1.2 billion in federal funding to increase internet access across the state.
National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Federal Program Officer Chip Spann told members of the state Broadband Enhancement Council Thursday that their budget office signed off on the authorization and the release of that funding this week.
“That acceptance and approval letter should be released very soon,” Spann said. “I’m guessing maybe no later than next week.”
The money is coming through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed by Congress and signed by President Biden in 2021. The law included $42.45 billion for broadband expansion.
State officials have been working through a framework for how to best roll out the expansion. The state has completed a five-year action plan for its connectivity efforts.
Part of that process has meant gathering public comment through the Broadband Equity, Access & Deployment (BEAD) Challenge Process.
“With that draft public comment, we developed an initial review of the BEAD eligible target locations. Those locations are then grouped into target areas and then those target areas are grouped into target regions,” state Office of Broadband Director Kelly Workman explained.
Workman said the plan lets people in the state question how good their internet service is based on the Federal Communications Commission’s National Broadband Map. The map shows the quality of the internet in every part of the state.
“What happens after that infrastructure is deployed? How are residents throughout the state going to use that new infrastructure to its maximum benefit and ultimately improve the lives of West Virginians throughout the state?” Workman said.
Workman said West Virginia ranks 50th in the nation in broadband connectivity, so the state needs to go the extra mile to make sure improvement are done right.
“We weren’t required by NTIA to put that out for public comment, but we did. We felt it was an important step in the whole process to say here’s what we think these target areas and regions are going to look like and to give the internet service providers and others an opportunity to provide feedback on that,” she said.