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Montgomery County leaders target 2025 for county-wide internet access

ELLISTON, Va. โ€“ In Montgomery County, thousands of homes remain without reliable internet access.

โ€œYeah, I would love to have internet at the house,โ€ said Bruce Hite, a resident of the county.

Leaders in Montgomery County have set a goal to ensure everyone in the county is connected by 2025.

โ€œGood gosh, COVID really taught us a valuable lesson,โ€ said Steve Fijalkowski, vice chair of the Board of Supervisors in Montgomery County. โ€œThe school division had a plan in place to do virtual learning and of course, they ran into the problem of the students didnโ€™t have a connection.โ€

Gigabeam Networks is leading the initiative to expand internet access.

โ€œYouโ€™ve got to have access. The days of not having access are gone by,โ€ said Eric Workman, the chief strategic officer for Gigabeam Networks.

The goal is to connect over 12,000 homes and businesses in Montgomery and Bland counties with reliable fiber internet.

โ€œHundreds of miles of fiber have been placed already in Montgomery County and Bland County as well,โ€ Workman said.

For many residents, this development is a welcome change.

Currently, some rely on the computer lab at the Meadowbrook Library in eastern Montgomery.

โ€œWe have people that are here usually once a day or a couple times a week,โ€ said Jessica Tabor, branch manager for the library.

Bruce Hite, who lives in the area, shared he and his wife frequently visit the library for internet access.

His wife has been using the library almost daily to complete training for a new job.

Hite said he' love for home internet access.

โ€œIt would do away with the running back and forth,โ€ said Hite.

He said his family has internet access at home and has seen how much it can help.

โ€œI got a brother and sister both that use the internet a whole lot and have been in their homes when they are using it,โ€ said Hite. โ€œA question will come up, โ€˜What about so-so?โ€™ โ€˜I donโ€™t know, I donโ€™t know.' Look it up on the internet.โ€

They said they have noticed workers installing cables, and now itโ€™s just a waiting game.

Everyone is expected to have service by the end of the year.


About the Author
Thomas Mundy headshot

Thomas grew up right here in Roanoke and is a graduate of Salem High School and Virginia Tech.