CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia has submitted its final proposal to the federal government for funding of broadband expansion.
Gov. Patrick Morrisey announced the submission under the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD).
“This is arguably the biggest economic development initiative we’ve seen in West Virginia history,” Morrisey said in a video message. “It has the potential to transform the Mountain State.”
West Virginia was targeted for $1.2 billion funding when BEAD was first announced in 2023 but the Trump administration reviewed and changed the program.
West Virginia’s submission seeks approximately $600 million in funding to cover 74,000 new locations for broadband.
It has the potential to transform the Mountain State – a major investment in digital infrastructure. And we’ll be able to better connect so many thousands of West Virginians to each other,” Morrisey said.
The Trump administration released new guidance for the funding in June through the U.S. Department of Commerce.
According to the governor’s office, BEAD provisional awardees are:
Armstrong – $12,664,104.27 to provide fiber technology to 1,014 locations.
Citynet – $229,226,686.94 to provide fiber technology to 26,353 locations.
Comcast – $61,293,220 to provide fiber technology to 5,493 locations.
Frontier – $209,291,933.38 to provide fiber technology to 24,386 locations.
GigaBeam – $23,416,440 to provide fiber technology to 3,552 locations.
Hardy – $7,939,550 to provide fiber technology to 456 locations.
Micrologic – $52,884,440.28 to provide fiber technology to 5,987 locations.
Prodigy – $21,576,576 to provide fiber technology to 2,219 locations.
Space X (Starlink) – $6,162,710.75 to provide low earth orbit (LEO) satellite technology to 4,100 locations.
Final BEAD awards are expected to be announced in 90 days. Decisions will be made by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.