Montgomery County has two Virginia Telecommunication Initiative (VATI) grants that will benefit well over 12,000 residents. The VATI 2021 project includes the Allegheny Springs, Elliston, Lafayette, and Shawsville communities, and the VATI 2022 project includes the rural unserved/underserved areas of both Montgomery County and Bland County. Both projects are under construction and have made significant progress.
The VATI 2021 project includes 7.4 miles of fiber and eight (8) optical line termination (OLT) boxes. These OLT boxes serve as hubs for GigaBeam, the Internet Service Provider (ISP). To date, 5.8 miles of the fiber has been deployed and all eight (8) OLT boxes have been installed. GigaBeam, their subcontractors, and AEP have been diligently working in the area for several months now and are on target to start making connections soon. It is anticipated that connections will become available as the project progresses throughout the targeted area in the fall of 2024.
The significantly larger VATI 2022 project is also progressing. To date, GigaBeam has deployed more than 35.2 miles of fiber and installed more than seventeen (17) OLT cabinets in various locations throughout both Montgomery County and Bland County.
For both projects, GigaBeam is continuing to build out the network and is working on securing permits for both the railroad and VDOT crossings.
For more information, please contact Chris Owens, cowens@nrvrc.org.