Brightspeed outlines multi‑town fiber build, says 11,000+ passings expected in Rockbridge County

Brightspeed representatives updated the Rockbridge County Board of Supervisors on July 28 about fiber construction underway and planned in the county, saying company investments plus county- and state-funded projects will put fiber in front of more than 11,000 households and businesses. "We have over 2,000,000 passings in our 20‑state footprint" and the company is offering 2‑gig service now with plans to deliver up to 10‑gig, Brightspeed's speaker said.

The presentation matters because the builds mix private investment and grant dollars and will expand high‑speed internet access in rural parts of the county. County staff said Brightspeed is coordinating designs for a VADi (Virginia Telecommunication Initiative/VATI-style) build and final agreements are now in place.

Chris Dillon, a Brightspeed representative, told supervisors the company bought CenturyLink copper assets and is converting those routes to fiber. "As you can see, we were started in about March of '22 ... we purchased all the copper assets from CenturyLink, and our goal is to pass that copper with fiber along all those routes," Dillon said. He listed five local builds—Lexington, Buena Vista, Glasgow, Natural Bridge and another Lexington‑area project—saying Lexington and Buena Vista each have about 4,000 passings and Natural Bridge has more than 200 open for sale (customers can subscribe now).

Dillon said Brightspeed was awarded a grant for more than 1,700 passings that, combined with a USDA Community Connect award and additional company‑funded "pass through" connections, will result in roughly 10,000+ funded passings and about 11,000 total passings countywide when combined with other builds. "So our funded passings are a little bit over 10,000," Dillon said, adding the county‑ and state‑funded total would be about 976 and that overall the work will reach "over 11,000 residents and businesses that'll have up to 10 gig service within the county."

County staff (Brent Souter, county administrator) said design work for the VATI/VADi build is underway, agreements are executed, and Brightspeed has held kickoff meetings. Souter and Dillon said the next step is detailed design and sharing the work plan with the county. Supervisors raised contractor responsiveness and an outstanding installation where a line remained strung across a backyard; Dillon said he would escalate the issue to his regional manager immediately.

No formal board action was required at the meeting; supervisors asked staff to continue coordination and to receive updated status reports as design and construction progress. The county administrator and Brightspeed agreed to provide updated build maps and schedules to the board and to resolve specific customer service/install problems brought to supervisors' attention.

Ending: Supervisors did not vote on contracts or grants at the meeting; they received the briefing and instructed staff to continue design coordination and outreach to Brightspeed on outstanding installation issues.