Officials say broadband expansion should reach most of Wythe County by year’s end

Deputy County Administrator Hankins told the Wythe County Planning Commission that county broadband projects are progressing and that remaining work is concentrated on the eastern end of Wythe County. Hankins said Point Broadband reached limits under its original grant and transferred the remaining work to Citizens, who have multiple contractor crews working to close the gaps.

“Point Broadband…they cherry picked the easiest areas to get into, left the hardest areas for the citizens to cover,” Hankins said. He added that Citizens has six contractor crews installing new fiber and that under recently awarded grant funding the provider has two years of performance to cover remaining addresses.

Hankins framed the work as largely funded through broadband access grants and said the county expects to have fiber available to roughly 98% of addresses by the end of the year; some more remote customers will be served by an additional grant or by existing coaxial connections. “We should have the access problem pretty well solved for probably 98% plus of the county, by the end of this year,” Hankins said.

Staff and commissioners discussed how different providers have approached buildout (overhead vs. underground, route selection, and grant constraints). Hankins recommended that constituents who want status updates consult the broadband provider’s website tools for availability and that commissioners direct specific customer questions to staff.

No formal action was taken; the briefing was informational and was provided as part of the deputy county administrator’s report.