To watch Senator Capito’s questioning, click here or the image above.

 
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, participated in a subcommittee hearing today focused on expanding broadband deployment through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) Senator Capito helped negotiate and craft.

During the hearing, Senator Capito questioned U.S. Commerce Department Secretary Gina Raimondo about prioritizing unserved and underserved areas of West Virginia when disbursing funds, accurate mapping, and secured a commitment to share the feedback received from her Capito Connect Share Your Stories initiative with the department.

HIGHLIGHTS: 

OVERWHELMING RESPONSE TO CAPITO CONECT’S SHARE YOUR STORIES: “About 10 days ago, I launched a project through my office called ‘Share Your Story.’ And I asked…in anticipation of all the money coming into the state, and some of the misspent funds from the BTOP [Broadband Technology Opportunities Program] in 2009…Don't want to make that mistake again…So, amazingly, I've gotten 902 stories. These are from people all over the state of West Virginia that are talking about where their issues are with their broadband service. We've heard from schools. We've heard from a school superintendent who can't even conduct business at his own home, he has to go back to the school in the middle of the night if something comes up with the school system. Businesses, but mostly individuals. They fall into a packet of unserved, yes, so you think well how are they contacting you? Maybe they get service at work or something like that…underserved, or service promised and undelivered. You know, certain speeds promised, you're paying for this but you're not getting it. And other things are sort of regional, where certain areas that are more rural or less populous, have less service or less availability. And then some providers, who will remain unnamed, were highlighted in this.

“So I plan to use this data…we're re-contacting everybody…and use this with my broadband council to help them fulfill their mapping as they're moving out. Because I was surprised it was such an overwhelming response, and very pleased. It's called share stories, www.capito.senate.gov/shareyourstories.”

SECURING AGREEMENT TO USE SHARE YOUR STORIES FEEDBACK:

SENATOR CAPITO: “You said maps by the summer in your comments, your written statements. You said that we prepare to launch these programs in a little more than 100 days. Because as we get the Share Your Stories, people are saying, ‘Yeah, you've talked about how you're going to get us broadband, ‘When is this coming?’ Because there is such an appetite. So, could you line out a little bit more of the timeline?”

SECRETARY RAIMONDO: “So first of all, we would like to get the info from Share Your Stories…because as I said, we are deep into stakeholder engagement.”

ON MAPPING ACCURATELY, PRIORITIZING UNDERSERVED AREAS: “Obviously the sooner the better. You know that. We want to do it right. We want to do it accurately…There are areas that are sort of in the fine line of underserved and unserved. They may have availabilities, but it's a $200 A month satellite availability that in the mountains of West Virginia, a lot of times people are getting kicked off or other things. I was supposing that you're going to be planning for those gray areas.”

CAPITO CONNECT BACKGROUND:

From working with West Virginians, broadband providers, and other involved parties, Capito Connect serves as a driving force for connecting unserved and underserved communities with the resources they need for Internet connectivity. For more information about Capito Connect, click here. For more information on Senator Capito’s broadband stories initiative, click here.
 

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