Tim Walker
AMR Reporter
Amanda Smarr of Region 4 and Melissa O’Brien of Citynet concurred at the February 12 Broadband meeting that customers along the route of the Broadband ARC Project may be able to sign-up for service by the end of 2026.
O’Brien added that once the fiber lines are installed, Citynet will be ready to hook up customers.
Smarr said that since the make-ready issues with Frontier and Mon Power have basically been worked out, their contractor, Quanta, will be back at work next week stringing fiber for the project. She said that contractually they will have the project “substantially complete” by early October with final completion by mid-November 2026.
O’Brien said that Citynet’s Line Extension Advancement and Development (LEAD) and its Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) projects in the county are under construction too, although they have been paused due to recent weather conditions.
According to O’Brien, it is anticipated that those projects will be signing up customers for service by the end of the year, as well.
O’Brien also told the council that Citynet has just received word that their application for the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program has been approved. She said that state-wide in West Virginia, Citynet was awarded 26,255 locations for BEAD, which is not only the largest BEAD grant in the state, but also the largest in the US. She said the build out of their BEAD projects have four years to be completed.
When asked if the problems experienced with having the utilities making their poles ready to receive fiber for the ARC Project would also affect the BEAD project, O’Brien said they should not, since those problems will very likely have been worked out by the time construction on BEAD begins several years from now. She added that another reason they won’t be a problem is that while the Pocahontas County Commission is the applicant for the ARC Broadband Grant, Citynet is the applicant for the BEAD project as well as for their RDOF and LEAD projects, and since Citynet is an Internet Service Provider, it will be a simpler and shorter process for them.
Council member Mike Holstine said they are also looking at the potential for workforce development with the broadband building taking place. This will provide ways to train the next generation of skilled workers to build and use broadband.
Holstine also pointed out that Spruce Knob Seneca Rock Telephone (SKSRT) has received $15 million dollars for seven broadband projects in the area, several of which will be in parts of Pocahontas County.
Marlinton Mayor Sam Felton remarked that the town has received $2 million to complete its Monday Lick Trailhead and is also looking at possibly providing WiFi to cover it.
