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West Virginia’s high-speed internet plan leaves out 40k homes with good enough service
The plan reclassifies homes as served if providers offer minimum speeds, reducing eligible households by over a third and allowing less reliable internet technologies access to federal funds.
- West Virginia finalized a $1.2 billion broadband plan last week to bring high-speed internet to homes and businesses, excluding about 40,000 households.
- The exclusion resulted from federal officials reclassifying roughly 40,000 homes as 'served' based on providers’ claims of minimum broadband speeds, reducing eligible households from 114,000 to 74,000.
- The state's new proposal adopted a technology-neutral approach, allowing providers like Citynet, Frontier, Comcast, and satellite company Starlink to compete for funding despite concerns about reliability in mountainous areas.
- Evan Feinman, who previously managed the BEAD program, criticized the change by comparing it to moving the target closer and then declaring victory, noting that the earlier plan would have covered every home with future-proof broadband while staying under budget.
- This plan suggests a trade-off between expanding coverage quickly and ensuring reliable, fiber-based connections in challenging terrain, while tens of thousands remain with slower services deemed 'good enough'.
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West Virginia's high-speed internet plan leaves out 40k homes with good enough service
West Virginia's $1.2 billion plan to bring high-speed broadband to homes and businesses leaves out about 40,000 households that are now considered to be served, even if they don't have
·United States
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100,000 West Virginians will no longer receive high-speed fiber internet
Last week, Gov. Patrick Morrisey announced that the state had finalized its $1.2 billion plan to bring high-speed broadband to homes and businesses in the state. “We are excited about the opportunity to bring broadband to every corner of our state and help every West Virginian reach their full potential,” he said. But buried in the fine print, tens of thousands of West Virginians will be left out. The plan now leaves out roughly 40,000 househ…
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Total News Sources6
Leaning Left4Leaning Right0Center1Last UpdatedBias Distribution80% Left
Bias Distribution
- 80% of the sources lean Left
80% Left
L 80%
C 20%
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