By Taylor Boyd
After years of planning, construction, and delays, Patrick County and its residents received an updated look at when broadband service may finally reach some of the county’s most underserved areas during a May 26 work session of the Patrick County Board of Supervisors.
Representatives from Appalachian Power, RiverStreet Networks, Citizens and Spectrum provided updates on their ongoing projects and, in some cases, the potential to take over portions of the project, while supervisors pressed for answers about construction timelines, financing, grant requirements, and service activation dates.
Appalachian Power
Appalachian Power External Affairs Manager Rob Mann said the company has completed 314 miles of its overall fiber buildout project.
“We’re still working on several routes. Dobyns, we’re almost complete with that. We have the 14.63 miles, and we’re at 15 miles completed. Elamsville, we’ve got 12.2 miles completed, we’ve got two crews working on that,” he said.
Mann said the company is also expecting delivery of a generator for its point-of-presence site in Woolwine.
“Once the generator is installed, we can run some tests and commission that point-of-presence site. So that’s upcoming,” he said.
The company has completed distribution make-ready work on the Stuart-Floyd route and has about four poles left to replace on the Stuart-Willis Gap route.
“Pole Bridge — we have started that route, so work will be ongoing. Then Dobyns, we’ve got about three weeks left on that,” Mann said.
Across Patrick, Henry and Franklin counties, Mann said 819 poles required replacement as part of distribution make-ready work. Of those, 243 were in Patrick County.
The company has completed 148 miles of fiber construction, with approximately 31 miles remaining in Patrick County. Three of seven routes have been completed.
The four remaining routes are Dobyns, Elamsville, Pole Bridge, and Meadows of Dan.
“Dobyns, we’ve got about a month left to finish that fiber buildout, and Elamsville about two months left,” Mann said.
Pole Bridge remains in progress, with only two miles of the route’s 17 miles completed so far.
“As only two miles of the 17 miles have been constructed along the Pole Bridge route,” Mann said, the company estimates completion will take another four to six months.
Meadows of Dan remains one of the more challenging areas because of permitting requirements.
“Then in Meadows of Dan, estimating six months to complete that construction for that, and we have not started building that route. We did get our Blue Ridge Parkway permit, but we’re still waiting on the VDOT permit. When I say waiting, it’s been submitted, it’s under review, there’s no issues, we’ve worked with VDOT closely, and came up with a good plan to get those permits. We don’t anticipate any trouble,” Mann said.
RiverStreet
RiverStreet Networks Vice President of Business Development Greg Coltrane said approximately 3,565 locations are expected to be ready for service in the fourth quarter of 2026.
“The first areas to be connected in Q4 of 2026 are on schedule to be the Shingle Shop area, Nettle Ridge, Vesta, and Willard Creek. That breaks down into funding split VATI 2022 that would be 2,123 locations and 1,442 from the VATI 2023,” he said.
Coltrane said RiverStreet’s construction schedule depends largely on Appalachian Power completing and turning over fiber routes.
“We have those broken down in our overall build design. Everything is hinged upon and pending upon the release of the transport fibers, each cabinet area hits its own construction sequence,” he said.
RiverStreet and Appalachian Power must each complete testing before routes can be activated.
“They turn that over to us once they’ve tested those routes, and then they test down to where we splice to them. Then everything on our network is up to us to test from the point where we connect out to the end users,” Coltrane said.
Like Appalachian Power, RiverStreet has closely monitored the permitting process in Meadows of Dan.
“Plan A was for AEP to apply for a federal permit across the Blue Ridge Parkway. We were initially told this was about a two-year period of time, so we were very concerned with that. We were working on a plan B, but plan A has come through so that permit from the federal level has been completed,” he said.
Supervisors seek clearer answers
While supervisors welcomed the updates, they also sought more specific timelines.
Board Chairman Andrew Overby, of the Dan River District, asked how quickly RiverStreet could begin work if Appalachian Power turned over a route immediately.
“We have contractors ready and lined up. The core concern for us right now is just getting the financing secure, which we’re very close to working on finalizing that. The contractors are ready and lined up to work on the project, and we have the material list and inventory ready,” Coltrane said.
Overby pressed for a more direct answer.
“So if they hand you over one tomorrow, how long will it take you to have boots on the ground?” he asked.
“A few weeks. Two to three weeks,” Coltrane replied.
Vice Chairman Clayton Kendrick, of the Mayo River District, questioned whether RiverStreet’s latest projections matched information previously presented at a West Piedmont Planning District Commission meeting.
“I understood at that meeting you all wouldn’t have anything online in Patrick County this year, and the final stuff would be in 2028 or pushed to the end of it. Is that still so?” Kendrick asked.
Coltrane described that timeline as a worst-case scenario.
Kendrick then pointed out that RiverStreet was now discussing the possibility of activating some customers this year.
“Yes, sir. It’s our intent that if we get some of the splicing complete with AEP to be able to try to light up some of those this year,” Coltrane said.
The discussion also turned to grant requirements and funding deadlines.
“It’s a lot of ifs. If I understood on that VATI grant funding, it has to be applied for an extension by June or July this year. Are you all prepared to get that filing?” Kendrick asked.
Coltrane said the company is working through that process.
Kendrick said one purpose of the meeting was to address public confusion surrounding project progress.
“I go by what I see, and I’ve seen AEP working everywhere and subcontractors and everything. I haven’t seen any of your crew here in Patrick County doing anything. Can’t you all be doing some of that infrastructure, getting those cabinets up, or getting some of those cables run that you know now what you have to have to splice to theirs? Can’t you be doing some of that?” Kendrick asked.
“Yes sir. As soon as we finish this last round of funding for BEAD and secure enough funding, that is our full intent,” Coltrane said.
Citizens
Citizens CEO Donna Smith told supervisors the company continues expanding fiber service in neighboring localities and already has infrastructure in portions of Patrick County.
“We did finish Floyd County, we’ve done a lot in Carroll County as well, right over the Patrick County line in the Terry’s Mill area of Laurel Fork. We have fiber going on in three different counties right now,” she said.
Smith said Citizens has an existing backbone route through Meadows of Dan.
“Then we cut through Primland, we come down the mountain there, Claudville, and then we come back to Stuart. We have some business customers in Stuart, not a ton of them, but we do serve some people in Stuart. With the backbone there, it’s just a matter of building out from there. You already have the necessary starting points,” she said.
Unlike some providers, Citizens relies entirely on buried fiber infrastructure.
The Blue Ridge Parkway presents challenges, Smith acknowledged, but she believes much of the work can be completed without crossing federally regulated areas.
“There could be some portions that we would have to get a Blue Ridge Parkway permit, but most all of it can be done at the top of the mountain without a Blue Ridge Parkway permit,” she said.
The discussion prompted questions about whether grant funding could potentially be shifted if Meadows of Dan remains one of the final areas awaiting service.
If Appalachian Power’s timeline places Meadows of Dan at the end of the construction schedule, Overby asked whether it would make sense to redirect some grant funding to Citizens.
Without directly advocating for such a move, Smith said a shared approach could accelerate deployment.
“Divide and conquer would get things done faster,” she said.
When Overby asked whether Citizens can handle the work, Smith said that it can.
“So, for all practical purposes, you have the capability? If some of those grants were switched over to you guys, you could do it,” Overby asked Smith.
“We do. Right now, we are supposed to finish our Wythe County project in the next two to three months. We have four crews working in Wythe County right now that will be complete in the next two to three months,” she said.
Spectrum
Spectrum Senior Director of Government Affairs Joe Prater said the company has completed nearly all of its broadband commitments in Patrick County.
“We’re limited down to the southwest corner of the county. We had RDOF (Rural Digital Opportunity Fund) through the FCC (Federal Communications Commission), VATI grant to fill in the gaps in those areas. We’ve completed everything with the exception of those locations to the north tied to the Blue Ridge Parkway,” he said.
Prater said Blue Ridge Parkway permits were submitted in 2023 and remain under review by the National Park Service.
Approximately 14 VATI-funded locations and roughly 200 RDOF locations remain tied to those permits.
“We worked with the state to conditionally close out the project, to go ahead and close it out under the condition that we will connect those 14 upon receiving the permitting, which we will,” he said.
“Outside of those, we’ve completed every other location and both of those commitments in the county,” Prater added.
Overby thanked Spectrum for its work in the Ararat area.
“You guys came in like gangbusters and threw your cable up on the poles and got everything done just within a few months. I’ve been very appreciative to have good, fiber optic internet for almost two years at my house,” Overby said.
Residents continue waiting
In addition to hearing from broadband providers, supervisors also received updates from Comcast, the West Piedmont Planning District Commission, and the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development.
Several residents spoke about the broadband projects during the meeting, including Steve Terry, chairman of the former Broadband Committee, and Del. Wren Williams, R-Stuart.
