Tim Walker
AMR Reporter
Ruthanna Beezley, Executive Director of the Greenbrier Valley Economic Development Corporation (GVEDC) said, in lieu of its cancelled July 9 regular monthly meeting, the Pocahontas County Broadband Council provided the following progress report, dated July 8.
Regarding the Appala-chian Regional Commission’s Broadband Project, Cory Nipper, of Thompson and Litton (T&L), reported that the project’s construction company – Quanta – has now completed installation of 216,134 feet of strand. Strand is the wire which is used to support the fiber-optic cables over which the broadband is delivered. Nipper said, in addition, they have installed 195,524 feet of the fiber-optic cable so far. Quanta’s splicer is also working behind the fiber installation, splicing the sections of fiber-optic together so that when completed, there will be one continuous backbone of main line fiber.
After this construction of the backbone is complete, Citynet will need to engineer and construct the laterals before turn ups can happen. That design/construction hasn’t yet started, so customer hookup timelines are not yet available. Citynet anticipates an update on that process at the next Broadband Council meeting, provided construction remains on track.
As background, this project, which when completed, hopefully in late 2026 or early 2027, will provide fast Citynet fiber internet service to customers along Route 39 from East of Marlinton through Huntersville and Minnehaha Springs, then North up Route 92 through Dunmore and part of the way South on Route 28.
The ARC Project had been scheduled for an earlier completion, but disputes delayed the project because of First Energy’s failure to make their poles ready to receive the ARC Broadband Project’s fiber. Now, those issues have been fully resolved and work resumed.
Beezley’s report also said that the Line Extension Advancement and Development (LEAD) Projects being worked on by Citynet and Spruce Knob Seneca Rocks are both on target to be completed by the end of 2026.
The Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) project still has four years to be completed. However, it is hoped that some addresses in Pocahontas County might be hooked up under BEAD over the next two years. BEAD is a federal project designed to provide broadband service to remote addresses that will not be serviced by any other internet programs. Citynet won the bid to provide BEAD service in Pocahontas County.
