Botetourt Co. Receives 4th VATI Grant for Broadband Installation   Botetourt County, VA (JUly 26, 2024) - On Wednesday, July 24, 2024, Governor Glenn Youngkin announced more than $41 million in Virginia Telecommunication Initiative grants (VATI) for 10 broadband projects serving 20 localities throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia. This year, the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) received 25 grant applications requesting more than $170 million in VATI funding. Botetourt County is pleased to announce that we are receiving funding totaling $395,411 to work on expanding and establishing broadband installation with Comcast to 62 addresses in the Blue Ridge community. This VATI proposal follows three previous successful VATI projects in Botetourt County serving a total of approximately 3,070 addresses and culminates the County’s work to deliver broadband connectivity to every residence and business, begun in 2017 with the broadband demand study. Botetourt County will continue to work with DHCD and our internet service providers to look for opportunities to ensure that all of our residents have access to reliable internet, specifically our neighbors in the northern part of Botetourt, including the Arcadia community. The county is exploring BEAD (Broadband Equity Access & Deployment Program) funding to complete the universal coverage broadband build. The VATI program provides targeted funding to extend service to areas that are presently unserved by any broadband provider. An expansion of services like this can have profoundly positive impacts on a community– it provides more educational and connectivity options for residents and opens up economic development opportunities for localities. Read the Governor’s full release here. Our VATI Success to Date Botetourt County has been awarded (3) VATI grants: 2019 – Craig-Botetourt Electric Cooperative(CBEC); $758,998 VATI award matched by $1,207,999 in county and CBEC funds (61% local/private match) to serve 621 addresses. Total Project Cost per Address Served: $3,167 VATI Award per Address Served: $1,222 2020 – Lumos Networks; $1,364,337 VATI award matched by $1,254,000 in county and Lumos funds (52% local/private match) to serve 548 addresses Total Project Cost per Address Served: $4,778 VATI Award per Address Served: $2,490 2021 – Lumos Fiber - $3,084,796; VATI award matched by $4,824,937 in county and Lumos funds (61% local/private match) to serve 1,901 addresses Total Project Cost per Address Served - $4,161 VATI Award per Address Served - $1,623 Total VATI grant awards of $5,208,131 ($1,697 per address) & $7,286,936 in county and provider funds to serve 3,070 addresses (total - $4,070 per address) Learn more about BOCO’s broadband journey at www.botetourtva.gov/broadband.

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