Virginia Telecommunication Initiative Awards $1.36 Million Grant to Lumos and Botetourt County to Expand Fiber in Botetourt County

BOTETOURT COUNTY, VA (JANUARY 28, 2021)—The Virginia Telecommunication Initiative (VATI) has awarded a grant of $1,364,337 to Lumos and Botetourt County to assist with the expansion of fiber in Botetourt County. The grant will be used as part of a project to install fiber to provide high-speed internet to 548 new addresses, including 30 businesses. Approximately 52% of the cost of the project is being funded by the VATI grant, and the remainder will be contributed in partnership with Lumos, a premier provider of fiber broadband internet, and Botetourt County. 

“This expansion makes it possible for more people in Botetourt County to have fast, reliable fiber internet, which has become a necessity because so many of us are working and learning from home. We are very much looking forward to this new project and excited to bring fiber optic broadband to more households in Botetourt County,” said Diego Anderson, Lumos Senior Vice President and General Manager. “Lumos is a technology leader in the industry because we install fiber all the way to the home and include symmetrical upload and download speed as a standard offering, which results in much more reliable service than other types of broadband access. This is particularly true for video conferencing, distance learning, telehealth, and working from home as many have experienced in recent months.” 

The VATI grant provides financial support to develop high-speed broadband infrastructure in underserved areas. Projects are selected by VATI based on community needs as well as project cost considerations. Amounts awarded are based on how much infrastructure is needed in targeted areas. Botetourt County is one of 11 areas of Virginia that will gain access to high-speed internet from VATI grants totaling $29.6 million.

The Botetourt County project will begin the installation of 59 miles of fiber-optic cable, including areas near Wheatland Road, Old Hollow Road, Lithia, and Exit 162 along Rt. 11. With this announcement, Botetourt County adds to the more than 1,400 residents and businesses who have already been included in announcements of broadband expansions in the past year. As a result, officials anticipate that approximately 85% of residents will soon have access to broadband internet. 

“This grant is fantastic for the residents and business of Botetourt County who have been in need of a broadband solution,” said Dr. Mac Scothorn, Chairman of the Botetourt County Board of Supervisors and Broadband Commission. “Getting fiber-to-the-home is a high priority for all of Botetourt County. We are grateful to be able to partner with Lumos and the state to bring this exceptional service to this area and continue to explore opportunities for other areas of the County.”

With funding in place, the Lumos technical teams will begin working on installation timelines. Preliminary goals indicate that many addresses will have access to the new fiber service later this year and the remainder by mid-year 2022. Lumos will send a notice to residents when construction begins in their area.

Lumos is widely known as an industry leader for its customer satisfaction ratings in service and reliability. As part of Segra, Lumos offers fiber availability to well more than 100,000 homes and businesses in Virginia and North Carolina. The company has plans to continue its growth track of expanded service areas.

Botetourt County residents and business owners who want to find out if service from Lumos is available in their neighborhood should visit lumosnetworks.com or call 855.GO.LUMOS.

About Lumos Networks

Lumos provides high-speed fiber internet, wall-to-wall Wi-Fi, voice, and streaming TV services to residential and business customers in VA as well as in NC, where we’re known as NorthState. But we are more than your average internet company. Our customers enjoy the fastest fiber speeds available built on a network they can truly count on – all backed by local, expert customer care teams. We know that fast, reliable internet is what you need to stay connected to the things that matter. And your connection is our commitment. Lumos and NorthState are a part of Segra, one of the largest independent fiber bandwidth companies in the U.S, headquartered in Charlotte, NC.

About Segra

Segra is one of the largest independent fiber infrastructure bandwidth companies in the Eastern U.S. providing Ethernet, MPLS, dark fiber, advanced data center services, IP and managed services, voice, and cloud solutions, all backed by its industry-leading service and reliability. Customers include carriers, enterprises, governments, and healthcare organizations. In addition, Segra delivers high-speed, fiber-based integrated telecommunications services to residential and business customers in portions of Virginia under the Lumos Networks brand name and in the Piedmont Triad region of North Carolina under the NorthState brand name. For more information about Segra’s technology and commitment to customer care, visit segra.com.  

About Botetourt County

Botetourt County (Pop. 33,494) is a 542 sq. mile community in Southwestern Virginia. The rural community is located in the southwestern portion of the state in the scenic Roanoke Valley of Virginia. Strategically located on Interstate 81 and just 20 miles to Interstate 64, Botetourt County is accessible to the markets of the Mid-West and the East. Botetourt County has a five-member elected Board of Supervisors which oversees most of the county’s government-related operations. In addition, Botetourt County has a complete administrative staff that works under the direction of a County Administrator who is hired by the Board of Supervisors to run day-to-day operations.

KP_IMAGE_PLACEHOLDER