The Board of County Supervisors awarded a contract to Verizon to expand high-speed internet access throughout the county in an effort to reduce the percentage of county residents without it. According to a county press release, the goal is to reduce the number of residents without access to less than 1.5%.
A National Institute of Health study shows that between 2018 and 2022, 96% of Prince William County residents had high-speed access; in comparison to counties in the Northern Virginia region, Prince William ranks among Fairfax City and Fairfax County (96%), Falls Church City (97%), Loudon County (96%) and Manassas City (96%).
“This project brings us one step closer to ensuring that every county resident and business has access to high-speed internet and represents a real commitment to resolve chronic issues of technology access, a?ordability and literacy across the county,” Board of County Supervisors Chair At-Large Deshundra Jefferson said.
The county released an interactive map to show the status of the project. There are dozens of active construction sites in Manassas, Catharpin and Haymarket, along with various sites in Triangle in the planning phase.
The Board allocated $1.35 million in funding from the county’s American Rescue Plan Act funding from the federal government, which was an effort to revitalize communities impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The project also comes out of the Department of Information Technology’s (DoIT) 2020 initiative, the Technology Inclusion Initiative, to increase access to high-speed internet to reduce threats to residents and local businesses.
Residents and businesses can submit a request form to demonstrate interest in gaining internet access through this program.