Floyd County to become the most connected rural community in Virginia, state leaders say
The average farmer in one of Southwest Virginia’s most rural, one-stoplight counties will soon have faster internet service than most people living in Roanoke or even Washington, D.C.
Citizens Telephone Cooperative plans to lay around 1,700 miles of fiber-optic cable over the next three years, delivering next generation gigabit internet to front doors across 97% of Floyd County by 2021.
By the end of this year, the growing network will reach 60% of the county and is poised to become the envy of rural communities everywhere struggling with internet access issues.
Gigabit internet is considered the future-proof gold standard, but it is not widely available in Floyd County’s neighboring population centers including Christiansburg, Blacksburg or Roanoke.
“There is not another community as rural as Floyd that’s going to be completely connected as soon as Floyd,” said Evan Feinman, Gov. Ralph Northam’s chief broadband advisor. “I think it’s very safe to say this is leading the way on truly rural communities.”
To read more about the advancements, check out the link below.