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Substantive progress is being made in the process that will bring universal access to broadband and high-speed internet in Southampton County.

Franklin Southampton Economic Development Inc. President and CEO Karl T. Heck made a brief presentation in Courtland to the Southampton County Board of Supervisors at the board’s July 25 meeting, noting that Charter/Spectrum was at work in the southwest corner of the county.

He said Spectrum was laying between 3,000 to 4,000 feet of underground cable every day.

“So closer to here, you’ll start seeing power stations pop up; so they work ahead, and then the wiring comes behind them,” he said. “So they’re working ahead of schedule, and they anticipate getting quite a bit done up to the Sedley side by the end of 2023 and then finishing most of the rest in 2024.”

BACKGROUND ON THE PROJECT

Former FSEDI Marketing and Existing Business Manager Ashley C. Covington explained in a September 2022 interview that Southampton County partnered by itself with Charter to apply for the Virginia Telecommunication Initiative grant in 2020.

“We, unfortunately, did not get that award,” she said. “But 2021 came around, and Charter came back to us, but this time with Isle of Wight County and the city of Suffolk.”

Southampton, Suffolk and Isle of Wight, in conjunction with Charter/Spectrum and the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission, submitted a regional grant application for the Department of Housing and Community Development’s 2022 VATI cycle, which totals around $21 million, the FSEDI website states. 

This application proved to be successful.

Universal access to broadband and high-speed internet is also on the way for the city of Suffolk and Isle of Wight County.