Caroline County says VADI 2023 Caroline East fiber build is on track; some areas months from service

David Sadler, director of information technology for Caroline County and project manager for VADI 2023, gave the county—s monthly broadband update on July 21, saying construction on the Caroline East VADI 2023 project is continuing and remains on schedule.

“It is a large project, and it is currently under construction,” Sadler said. He reported that 89.95 miles of fiber have been constructed and that 290 of the project—s 3,910 addresses are open for sale. Sadler said earlier work in the 2023 project area had identified 815 unserved or underserved homes and that the earlier section was a 100% fiber network with about 62 miles of fiber.

The update included a progress summary for other providers in the county. Sadler said areas shaded red on the county map are served by Comcast/Xfinity and that residents in those areas can sign up at xfinity.com or by phone. Areas marked with pink dots are served by Verizon Fios; Sadler said that Fios in the prior 2023 project supports up to "2 gig symmetrical Internet," and that the first address for that project opened for sale in June with more than 355 service installations completed. For parts of the county served by Breezeline, Sadler provided breezeline.com and a customer service phone number.

Sadler described the Caroline East project—s staging: several smaller target areas are slated for "early service" in the project (including Elavon, Tigner, Central Pointe, Liberty Fork, Beverly, Gather, Bagby and Shumansville), with service in those target areas aimed for early fall if schedules hold. A larger group of named communities south of Bowling Green (including Frog Level, Lauren, Covington—s Corner, Doggett—s Fork, Campbell—s Corner and Kemp—s Corner) is targeted for mid to late fall. Remaining blue-shaded areas north of the 207/301 corridor and a small southern area around Route 30 were described as expected to be completed next year.

Three of four required CSX railroad crossings for the Caroline East build are complete, Sadler said; county staff are still working on the fourth. He said the county is monitoring VDOT permits and pole-attachment costs and that "some redesign is in progress" because of higher-than-expected pole-attachment costs. Sadler noted that recent rain and limited access to agricultural fields ("the crops are in") have slowed physical work but, as of the update, have not caused a project extension.

On customer-facing milestones, Sadler said the initial Verizon project addresses opened for sale in February and that "the first address is open for sale in June" for the other completed area; he added that more than 355 installations had been completed by March in that prior project area. For the Caroline East build, he reiterated the count of constructed fiber and the addresses currently open for sale and repeated that early-targeted areas aim for service in early fall.

Sadler directed residents to the Caroline County website broadband page for maps and the county—s "submit your question" button for updates and questions. He said he personally receives and answers citizen questions and that the next broadband update is scheduled for Monday, Aug. 18 at 7 p.m., streamed live via YouTube.

Discussion versus formal action: this meeting segment was an informational update; no motions or formal votes were taken on the broadband projects during the July 21 update.