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Hanover broadband update: All Points nears public-road completion but private-road easements and a VDOT stop-work slowed pace
Summary
County staff reported All Points Broadband has completed about 257 of 326 mainline miles and increased home connections to ~261, but private-road easement acquisition (about 70 miles remaining), a temporary VDOT stop-work order and lower-than-expected take rates are slowing the project and could force a scheduling extension.
Todd Kilda, deputy county administrator, told the board the county's broadband rollout has moved from quarterly to monthly updates because of intense public interest. Using provider filings to the state, Kilda said mainline installation rose to about 257 of 326 miles and home connections increased by roughly 82 since the last update to a reported 261 connected homes.
Kilda stressed that the contract requires 6,198 passings (locations the provider must make available), but not all passings convert to customers. "Today, it's been about 30%" take rate, Kilda said, which would imply roughly 1,859 eventual connections from the full 6,198 passings if the rate held.
Kilda identified private roads as the principal bottleneck: roughly 70 miles of private roads remain where easements must be individually obtained and notarized, which slows installation versus work in VDOT right-of-way. He said All Points has hired a staff member specifically to obtain easements and that county staff are assisting by providing parcel information when possible.
The county also recounted a safety issue: VDOT issued a 2½-week stop-work order to an All Points contractor for failing to follow traffic-control and flagging requirements; All Points fired the contractor the same day, but the pause created a measurable delay, Kilda said. He warned that mainline-fiber completion targets in December 2025 may not be met without progress on private-road easements and said the county has not yet received a firm extension request from the provider.
Board members stressed urgency. Supervisor Pritchard said the word "extension" makes her uncomfortable and asked for specific private-road lists and current working roads; staff acknowledged some earlier wording in presentations overstated easement readiness and agreed to get better specificity to the public.
What to expect: county staff will continue weekly coordination with All Points, provide private-road lists and support easement acquisition, monitor NTIA/BEAD approvals that could fill coverage gaps, and provide monthly public updates.
