Federal Loan To Aid Fiber Optic Service To Homes, Businesses

Sixteen communities in Raleigh and Fayette counties are set to receive fiber optic high-speed broadband services thanks to a $37 million federal loan. The loan will be provided to the Beckley Service Area Company’s ITown Communications project.

The loan, which will be repaid over 17 years, will be used for the construction of an open access Fiber-to-the-Premise (FTTP) system in which fiber optic cables will connect homes and businesses to a broadband network. When completed, the ITown Communications Project estimates that 12,624 homes and 1,124 businesses in the region will have high-speed internet access -- but has the capacity to expand and provide over 33,000 homes and 2,200 businesses with broadband access. Funding for this project comes from the US Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development program.