Virginia funds broadband deployment within the Commonwealth through several programs. The largest and main program is the Virginia Telecommunication Initiative (VATI).

VATI provides grants to localities partnered with internet service providers to finance the deployment of high speed broadband to locations (called a “passing") within the Commonwealth that are determined to be “unserved." Passings are places where the internet can be accessed – thus it could be a business, community anchor, a home or an apartment complex. A passing is unserved(*1) if it lacks access to internet speeds of 25 Megabits per second (Mbps) download and 3 Megabits (Mbps) upload (“25/3").

This report is required by statute and has been prepared by the Office of Broadband located within the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD). This report tracks the technical performance of the VATI provider partners in their work to deploy broadband. This report adheres to the factors that the General Assembly directed to be tracked and presents them in the manner directed by the General Assembly.

Below are the key takeaways from the report:

• Total passings: VATI FY22 projects will provide access to broadband infrastructure to 280,834 passings across Virginia.

• Leveraged local and private funding: In addition to $727.9 million in state and federal funding awarded, FY22 projects leverage a total of $1.019 billion in private and local match funding, of which over $17.7 million has been expended to-date.

• Maximum Speeds Available: Over 85% of projects funded in FY22 offer gigabit (1,000 Mbps) download speeds, and over 66% offer gigabit upload speeds, with an average download speed across all projects of 911 Mbps and average upload speed of 727 Mbps.

In conclusion, 33 out of 36 projects funded from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) and General Funds from FY22 are on track to being completed on time as of the time of this report’s submission. The other three projects are getting under agreement at the time of this report. Three projects, out of 36 total awards, do not have agreements executed between DHCD and the grantee. DHCD is awaiting additional information from the grantee prior to issuing the agreement and expects these agreements to be entered into by November 30, 2022. Looking forward, DHCD will continue to monitor global supply chain issues that could affect the expansion of broadband infrastructure in Virginia.
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(*1) In the FY22 VATI process, the definition of unserved was set at 25/3. This definition of unserved has been upgraded to those passings lacking access to broadband at speeds of 100/20.

[Includes reporting requirements of Chapter 1, Enactment Clause 1.C.2., 2021 SSII Acts of Assembly.]