From a hilltop overlooking Madison County, several members of the Rappahannock County Broadband Committee observed on Monday how a local service provider brought the internet to Graves Mountain Lodge and contemplated what was possible for their own mountainous terrain.
The broadband committee has been searching for ways to bring better connectivity to Rappahannock at a time when it’s become a prime means of work, education, health and safety.
It had nearly given up on a partnership with Rappahannock Electric Cooperative (REC) until the utility surprised county supervisors in March with a letter seeking to gauge their interest in going after funding to make fiber broadband accessible to Rappahannock homes and businesses.
But that discussion is just beginning and the REC board is divided on whether or not such an ambitious project is feasible or financially viable.
Even if REC does go ahead, the project is ambitious and would take years to complete given the logistics involved in connecting its 22-county service area. And where Rappahannock ranks among the other counties is unclear.
“There’s so many unknowns at a time when I feel like everybody needs connectivity,” said Debbie Donehey, a member of the committee and supervisor representing Wakefield District.
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Rather than pin all their hopes on REC, committee members are seeking other avenues for connectivity by learning from those who’ve managed to do so in counties with similar challenges: sparse, spread out populations with undulating, forested terrain.
Clint Hyde was the latest to share his experience. President of Madison Gigabit Internet, he connected Graves Mountain Lodge using radio transmitters last October, right before the apple festival. At that event, Hyde said one vendor told him he’d had the best sales of his life because the wi-fi worked, allowing him to take card payments rather than cash.
“If we could do this for everybody, it would be huge,” Hyde said, sweeping his arms around the Graves Mountain facility.
Earlier in his presentation, he waved his hands over a map to highlight where the different radios sit on the property. His advice to Rappahannock, identify similar “zones,” as he refers to them, and use them as a starting point.
The radios are not a final solution. They are an inexpensive, early approach, Hyde said, because they have speed limitations. But from the time Graves settled on the project it took him just two weeks to get several buildings and the festival area online and running. Ultimately, Hyde will bring in fiber to connect the facility.
Margaret Bond, chair of the committee, said hearing from providers like Hyde has given members the kind of detail they need to be aware of to put together a phased plan.
“We can’t afford to let a whole swath of schoolchildren lose out on their counterparts … because they don’t have access to broadband or online teaching,” she said.
Rappahannock County Public School Superintendent Dr. Shannon Grimsley said recently that only 32 percent of school families reported having high-speed internet while the rest had spotty satellite or cell coverage or nothing at all.
What’s next for county broadband will be clearer by the end of October, when REC will announce whether its bid for federal funding for its fiber optic broadband network was successful.
“We are cautiously optimistic that REC will decide to deploy a robust system for our citizens with federal funding support, but the broadband committee is also considering ways to be prepared to move in other directions if that does not happen,” the members said in a joint statement.
By Sara Schonhardt — For Foothills Forum
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