Portsmouth Broadband Authority outlines plan to light city fiber ring, flags outreach and affordability gaps

PORTSMOUTH, Va. — The Portsmouth Broadband Network Authority received an update on the city's Next Generation Network (NGN) and the draft Digital Opportunity Plan, hearing that city staff expect at least 10 municipal locations to be "lit up by the end of this year" while engineers complete a design for a 119-location plan and funding decisions remain pending.

The NGN update, delivered by a city staff presenter, outlined a phased rollout of the municipal ring, said the city had applied for a Southeast Economy and Infrastructure Development (SEIED) grant with an announcement scheduled for Sept. 1, and summarized a Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) draft BEAD (Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment) plan that allocates 163 Portsmouth locations among ISPs including Verizon, GTS/Spark, Amazon and SpaceX.

City staff said the NGN will connect 119 community anchor institutions (CAIs) identified for the ring; the first 10 targets include City Hall and several public-safety and social-service sites. "We plan to have those 10 first of those lit up by the end of this year," the presenter said. The presenter gave a tentative month-by-month sequence: an initial set of sites and public-safety locations online by October, four more and several downtown facilities by November, and three additional sites in December to complete the first 10.

Why it matters: the NGN is intended to let Portsmouth's government facilities use shared city fiber to improve service quality and reduce recurring costs, and to create trunk infrastructure that ISPs can use to extend service to households. The city said connecting municipal buildings could also support higher-bandwidth uses such as real-time camera feeds to the real-time crime center and future city Internet-of-Things projects.

Most important facts

- Scope and timeline: staff said 119 CAIs are in the NGN plan and at least 10 city sites are targeted to be operational by the end of the year. Specific buildings mentioned for the early phases included the sheriff's civil process division, social services, corrections/parole offices, Fire Rescue/Emergency Medical Services Station 1, the Water Street parking garage, the downtown main library, the public defender's office, a senior center and the Sportsplex. The presenter said the city jail already has fiber present that can be converted from dark fiber to active service.

- Funding and grants: staff reported a pending SEIED grant decision (presenter said the announcement is scheduled for Sept. 1) and discussed the federal BEAD program. The presenter said Virginia's initial federal allocation was $1,480,000,000 and that DHCD's draft plan tentatively assigns 163 Portsmouth "passes" among ISPs (presenter listed Verizon with 85, GTS/Spark 65, Amazon 10 and SpaceX 3). The presenter cautioned that federal definitions of broadband have changed over time and that those definitions affect mapping and eligibility.

- Engineering and costs: staff repeatedly emphasized that an engineering design and asset assessment are needed before the city can estimate per-site connection costs and schedule a larger build-out. "Once you get an idea of all the anchor institutions and the fiber design, then you're able to actually put a cost and analysis together," the presenter said. Staff said that with a full ring and an ISP connection to undersea capacity, trunk speeds could reach multi-gigabit levels (the presenter referenced "up to 10 gigs").

Questions and concerns raised

Authority members asked why specific sites (for example the Water Street parking garage) were among the first 10 and whether the selection prioritized the most critical municipal functions or simply the sites closest to existing conduit. One member said: "If those are the things that we're gonna connect first, good. How do we connect those things faster so that we get off of somebody else's infrastructure sooner and start collecting the savings?" (Member Carter).

Members pressed staff on affordability and outreach. Staff said the draft Digital Opportunity Plan and a city survey were intended to help identify covered populations and adoption barriers; staff reported 112 survey responses and said the affordability question was left blank by about 52% of respondents. Members expressed concern that 112 responses out of roughly 40,000 households is not a representative sample and stressed the need for a stronger public-information campaign. The presenter acknowledged outreach as a requirement and recommended continuing outreach, speed tests and public-facing GIS to support planning.

Clarification on "served" vs. "available": staff explained that federal mapping treats a census tract as "served" if a provider reports service in that tract; that does not mean every household in the tract subscribes or can afford service. The presenter warned that changes to federal speed definitions (examples cited in the meeting included 25/3 Mbps and 100/25 Mbps) change how maps portray coverage and can make areas appear fully served even when residents experience inadequate speeds.

Formal actions and next steps

No vote or formal policy decision about the NGN or the Digital Opportunity Plan was taken at the meeting. The authority adopted the minutes at the start of the session and later adjourned. Staff asked authority members to submit further questions and suggested follow-up materials, including the NGN map and the forthcoming engineering assessment, to help members evaluate priorities for connections.

Community impact and constraints

Staff and members emphasized that building the ring does not automatically provide individual households with Internet access; it creates shared trunk infrastructure and a market incentive for ISPs to extend last-mile service. Staff said some households may still need affordability programs or targeted subsidies and proposed coordination with social services and senior centers for outreach.

The presenter noted the project has been discussed since 2019 and that the engineering design, funding (state/federal grants or city CIP/internal funds) and ISP participation all affect how quickly the full list of anchor institutions and adjacent neighborhoods can be connected.

Ending

Staff and members agreed to continue planning and to provide additional materials to authority members, including a detailed NGN map and the engineering assessment timeline. The presenter reiterated an open invitation for questions and said the next authority meeting is scheduled for Sept. 9 at 4 p.m.