West Virginia Developing Plan for $1.2 Billion in Broadband Funds

CHARLESTON — State officials reveled Friday over the massive federal allocation to expand and improve broadband access to areas lacking in West Virginia.

Assistant Secretary Alan Davidson of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration was in Charleston Friday and spoke at a press conference with Gov. Jim Justice and U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va.

The state will receive $1.2 billion from the Telecommunications and Information Administration, an agency in the U.S. Department of Commerce. Justice had the amount from the $42 billion nationwide down to the penny, $1,210,800,969.85.

“Think of all the goodness we’re on the cusp of doing,” he said.

The broadband infrastructure program was compared to bringing electricity to rural America in the early 20th century and the development of the interstate highway system.

“This is our generation’s big infrastructure moment,” Davidson said.

The funds as required by law are to first bring service and connectivity to areas that are unserved, Davidson said. The modern economy requires access, he said.

“Today the internet is a necessity, not a luxury,” Davidson said.

The state is working on the required initial plan on how the money will be used, said Kelly Workman, director of the state Office of Broadband and administrative director of the state Broadband Enhancement Council. The target date is to have the plan by August, she said.

The government will release a fifth of the money to the state next year after the initial plan is reviewed, Davidson said. The broadband initiative across the country is a five-year program, he said.

The $1.2 billion is in the 2021 $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The act earmarked $42 billion to the Telecommunications and Information Administration for broadband.

West Virginia’s allocation was so large because the coverage maps used by the Federal Communications Commission, which were inaccurate in West Virginia, were updated.

West Virginia received the 11th largest allocation from the pool of funds, Capito said.

“That shows we have a problem,” she said.

Internet service is key to attracting companies, Mitch Carmichael, secretary of the West Virginia Department of Economic Development, said. A trade delegation from the state while in Seattle was in the headquarters of Amazon where a standing ovation was made when it was announced the state would receive $1.2 billion for broadband development, he said.

The funds will allow West Virginia to “leapfrog” over other states, Carmichael said.