Wampler says localities must have multiple broadband systems

By KATHY STILL
BRISTOL HERALD
Published September 3, 2005

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ABINGDON – Virginia’s Tobacco Commission invested $19 million to bring broadband service to Southwest Virginia last month because times change, state Sen. William Wampler said here Friday.

Technology also changes, Wampler told state lawmakers and regional leaders who gathered at the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center to present checks from the Tobacco Commission for projects in Southwest Virginia.

To make his point, Wampler held a 1960 encyclopedia volume that he and his sister fought over as children. The cutting-edge technology in the Wampler house then was the transparency pages in the human anatomy section of the encyclopedia, he said.

Today, high Internet bandwidth is the cutting edge in homes and businesses as it allows students to take upper level courses from home and small businesses to sell wares worldwide, said Wampler, R-Bristol.

It’s not enough anymore to offer flat land and shell buildings to prospective businesses, the senator said. Localities must have multiple broadband systems just to get companies to give Southwest Virginia a look, he said.

"If you don’t believe in investing in technology, talk with Russell County’s Industrial Development Authority or go to Scott County and talk to them about the amount of traffic and new companies coming to the region," Wampler said.

Bristol Virginia Utilities received six technology grants Friday, including $4.6 million for commercial and residential telecom infrastructure expansion in Washington County and $1.2 million to construct a fiber-optic backbone infrastructure from Rural Retreat to Bluefield.

BVU also received $376,210 to install a fiber-optic infrastructure extension at Jonesboro Road; nearly $800,000 for fiber optic extensions for Chilhowie and Saltville; $352,100 to provide services at the Mountain Empire Industrial Park in Atkins; and $400,325 to provide additional services to commercial establishments in Abingdon.

"It means we are putting diverse loops throughout Southwest Virginia to bring services to commercial and industrial properties to keep them in Southwest Virginia," BVU official Jim Kelly said.

Some in the region have questioned giving state money to public entities to provide telecommunications services.

Jim Thompson, a citizen member of the Tobacco Commission, said the region has good telecommunication providers, but they are scattered.

"This puts us on a level playing field with businesses in the rest of the state," Thompson said.

Cumberland Plateau Planning District Commission received $2 million for the installation and distribution of broadband infrastructure for its Cumberland Plateau Company. The LENOWISCO Planning District Commission received $1.5 million for broadband infrastructure development.

The two planning districts work together as the Virginia Coalfield Coalition to develop the Southwest Virginia Fiber Optic Backbone system for the coalfield region. That project received $3 million from the commission.

The Tobacco Commission money, combined with matching federal money, could provide broadband services from Castlewood in Russell County through Claypool Hill, Richlands and Bluefield in Tazewell County, through Grundy in Buchanan County and into Dickenson County.