CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Twenty-seven West Virginia counties are involved in grant-funding applications to plan for, or to construct, broadband infrastructure improvements in unserved or underserved areas.
After the West Virginia Development Office announced it would expand its Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program to include broadband access projects, 12 applications were submitted by regional development councils and county commissions asking for a total of roughly $1.59 million to fund these types of projects.
The majority of counties involved in the applications are in Southern West Virginia, a region lagging in broadband service and struggling economically in the wake of the coal decline. A Federal Communications Commission report ranked West Virginia 48th in broadband availability.