We, like most Southern Virginians, lost jobs and livelihood due to conditions beyond our control. Jobs are hard to find as NAFTA shuttered plants and exported our businesses and the jobs they provided offshore.
Access to technology like the Internet will give us a tool to use in improving our standard of living.
Every citizen should have access to broadband Internet connectivity. It turns out that Patrick County had at best 20% of the population with HSI connectivity; mostly in Stuart and the 58 corridor, ignoring the rural areas.
I addressed the Patrick County Board of Supervisors and made a case for high speed Internet connectivity to all Patrick County, not just the elite.
Now 12 years latter, through the efforts of many and receiving support from our county government, federal and state representatives, we have made progress.
Today in rural Patrick County, CenturyLink provides 95% of households and businesses with HSI accessibility.
Through the efforts of CenturyLink, the Patrick County Board of Supervisors and WPPD; CenturyLink is updating equipment to provide higher HSI speed, made possible with millions in federal grants along with Century Link’s commitment in providing excellent service to rural Patrick County.
There is no cost to the local tax revenue to build this multi-million dollar infrastructure! .
CenturyLink has accepted funding through the federal Connect America Fund program to provide broadband capable of 10M download and 1M upload speeds. The program is funded for six years and CenturyLink will be providing 10/1 service to nearly 50,000 customers throughout its service area in Virginia.
In Patrick County, Century Link is currently in the process of upgrading existing facilities to improve broadband speeds in two of our four exchanges at a cost of millions of dollars. In addition, portions of the other two exchanges are eligible under the Connect America Fund program, but at this time CenturyLink has not announced specific plans for the future years.
Thank you to CenturyLink for providing excellent service in a rural environment and your commitment in providing Patrick County with the latest technology!
Roger T Hayden,
Chairman,
Patrick County
Board of Supervisors
