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the basic infrastructure to extend high-quality Internet access to

businesses, schools and homes in those communities. This presents

a substantial community and economic development disadvantage

for areas of Virginia that need new industry and a growing business

sector.

Opportunity for Growth

Governor McAuliffe understands this opportunity and is

working to address it through his efforts to build a new Virginia

economy. One of the pillars of his New Virginia Economy Strategic

Plan, released in December of last year, is hosting world-class

infrastructure, including broadband access. Access to high-quality

Internet connectivity is one of the most critical tools for communities

to succeed in growing and diversifying their economic base.

The efforts on which this administration has been and will

continue to focus are comprehensive planning and strategic

deployment of broadband infrastructure in the most in-need areas.

This process involves two critical, parallel paths to success.

Long-term Planning

The first path is to continue to incent localities and communities

to engage in strategic, long-term planning for broadband

infrastructure deployment in their areas. These communities must

first know their infrastructure needs in terms of who they want

to attract, where the most critical areas are to maximize business

and economic development and how deployment dollars can be

used most efficiently. The Virginia Department of Housing and

Community Development (DHCD) has been providing dollars to

communities for this type of planning and must be provided the

necessary resources to expand this effort.

The Virginia Community Development Block Grant (CDBG)

program, administered by DHCD, utilizes state resources to

improve the lives of Virginians and make our communities viable

places to live and bring new business. In December 2014, Governor

McAuliffe announced, through the CDBG program, a $600,000

Community Economic Development grant for the Charles City

County Roxbury Broadband Project. The County will undertake a

See

BROADBAND

, continued on page 6

In today’s connected world, many of us take for granted the

easy access we have to high-speed Internet. Think about your job:

what would you do if you were unable to access the Internet? How

hard would it be for your business to thrive without this necessary

tool? In this global economy, it is almost impossible to compete or

succeed without it.

Approximately 70% of Internet traffic goes through Virginia.

In the 2015 Akamai State of the Internet Report, Virginia ranked

number two nationwide in average connection speed with a 34%

increase year-over-year and number three nationwide in average

peak connection speed with a 47% increase year-over-year. These

statistics show that the Commonwealth is headed in the right

direction, but there is still work to be done.

Risks

The Akamai Report also shows that 55% of Virginia’s rural

population does not have access to broadband according to the

FCC’s definition, and 29% of Virginia’s rural population does not

have access to broadband by any definition. This is not simply an

issue of not having access to technology. This infrastructure is vital

for today’s community and economic development prospects. Many

of Virginia’s rural communities built their economies largely on

single industries such as rail, textile, manufacturing and resource

extraction. While some of these sectors still contribute to the

economic base of rural communities, long-term growth will come

from economic diversity. Quick, reliable and affordable access to

the Internet is a prerequisite for all businesses—large, small or

home-based—and is critical for attracting, retaining and growing

businesses and jobs in a community.

For the most part, in heavily populated urban and suburban

areas, there is access to high-quality telecommunications

infrastructure, providing access to reliable high-speed Internet.

The private sector provides reasonable levels of broadband access

to the many communities that have high density and significant

demand, but with low population density and relatively limited

demand in rural areas, these private sector providers often lack the

economies of scale necessary to invest the capital in expanding their

infrastructure. This has resulted in pockets of rural areas that lack

Connecting the Dots

to a Stronger Virginia

Broadband

By Maurice A. Jones, Secretary of Commerce and Trade