WASHINGTON, DC – The Page County Broadband Authority, which is a member of the Broadband for America (BfA) Virginia Chapter, has been awarded a $1.6 million dollar grant to deploy “a 39-mile fiber network” to serve four towns in the rural Shenandoah region of western Virginia.   

According to the grant announcement from the U.S. Department of Commerce, “The network expects to directly connect 29 anchor institutions including, 11 K-12 schools, three libraries, six healthcare facilities, Lord Fairfax Community College, and eight public safety institutions.”  

The grant came from funds allocated to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) of the Department of Commerce.  The Page County Broadband Authority had to compete against “more than 1,800 applications” from around the nation.   

Bernie Miller, Chairman of the Page County Broadband Authority, said that with the network, Page County “can build an economic base for jobs, opportunities and quality of life, which is what the Broadband Authority was created to.”     

Broadband for America (BfA) is a growing coalition of over 200 members ranging from independent consumer advocacy groups, to content and application providers, to the companies which build and maintain the Internet.

The complete BfA membership list is available at: http://www.broadbandforamerica.com/about/members     

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