Lancaster County Board of Supervisors Charmin Ernest Palin and 1st District Member Craig Giese connect the indoor & outdoor fiber optic installation.
May 17th, 2024
Lancaster County, VA – The Northern Neck Broadband Initiative continues to make progress in its fiber-to-the-home broadband network. Representatives from Lancaster County, All Points Broadband, and Northern Neck Electric Cooperative celebrated the County’s broadband network activation at an NNEC member’s home in Morattico.
All Points Broadband recently completed its network activation in the eastern portion of Lancaster County, making service available to more than 1,400 locations previously unable to access broadband. The company expects to complete the remainder of its network deployment in Lancaster, Northumberland, and Westmoreland counties by the end of July.
“The county is proud to have played a role in making broadband available to this area today and to the rest of the 2,600 Lancaster County homes this summer. We appreciate everything All Points, the Planning District Commission, and NNEC has done to make our shared objective become a reality,” said Don Gill, the Lancaster County Administrator.
Keith Kidd, Lancaster County Broadband Authority vice chair, and former telecommunications industry executive, commented “I know the investment and work required to get broadband to unserved areas of the county; this takes significant collaboration and commitment from everyone involved.”
The Northern Neck Broadband Initiative is a true public-private partnership. All Points Broadband, Dominion Energy Virginia, and NNEC are investing and collaborating to bring broadband to the five-county region through a partnership initiated by the Northern Neck Planning District Commission. In addition to the substantial private sector investment and county contributions, the Initiative secured federal support through the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund & the American Rescue Plan and state support through the Virginia Telecommunication Initiative administered by the Department of Housing & Community Development.
“More than 1,400 families in the part of Lancaster now have access to telehealth, new education prospects, and new economic opportunities,” said Steve Minor, Vice President of Engineering at the Northern Neck Electric Cooperative. “We are so thrilled that these families will have a better quality of life, and to play a role in that.”
“Our mission is to bring affordable broadband to people who don’t have it, and we could not have achieved our mission without the partnership of the cooperative and local elected leaders,” said Tom Innes, Senior Vice President of All Points Broadband. “Once the regional network is completed this summer, it will stand as an example of how to combine public and private investment to deliver an essential utility service.”
Network construction is ongoing in portions of Westmoreland, Northumberland, and Lancaster, and we thank residents across the Northern Neck for their patience as we complete this regional infrastructure project. Residents can visit APBfiber.com to determine whether their location is included in the current deployment, pre-register for service, and sign up for project updates with no commitments. Once the initial deployment is complete, All Points will coordinate with each county to continue closing the digital divide.