Firefly Expands it Footprint in Louisa County using CARES Funds

Louisa County has allocated additional CARES Act funding to Firefly Fiber Broadband^SM to make fiber internet access available by extending existing fiber from Loving Road to homes in areas along Retriever Ridge Drive, Pointer Lane, and Keswick Glen Drive. Firefly will be using a number of contractors to complete this build in your area, and they will be in marked trucks. Construction crews will install conduit in the ground in the VDOT rights-of-way by boring and plowing.  Once the fiber optic cable is placed in the conduit, areas of disturbance will be restored to their original state.  Next, the fiber will be spliced and crews will place “drops” to the homes of those who pre-registered.  After construction to the outside of the homes of registered customers is complete, Firefly will contact those who signed up for service to establish appointments for home installation.  Fiber construction and most of the home installations will be complete by the end of the year; however, some connections may continue through the first part of 2022.

Firefly Fiber Broadband^SM Partners with Louisa County to Expand Rural Broadband with $340,000 of CARES Act Funding

(Arrington, VA) – Firefly Fiber Broadband^SM, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Central Virginia Electric Cooperative (CVEC), is partnering with Louisa County to make use of the funds that are available for non-CVEC areas in the county as a one-time opportunity to quickly expand broadband availability in response to COVID issues using $340,000 of CARES Act funds. These additional funds, made available by Governor Northam, were awarded to localities based on a first come first serve basis after successfully being selected from the pool of applicants and the projects must be completed within calendar year 2020.

Firefly developed a plan to include construction to two projects which, in total, include over four miles of fiber optic cable and make service available to 87 accounts. Gary Wood, CEO for Firefly and CVEC commented, “Firefly is excited to announce our partnership with Louisa County to help expand broadband in this area of the county. These projects will connect homes plus allow for an additional free Wi-Fi hotspot to help school children and remote workers in an underserved area of the county. Firefly is able to add the projects into the schedule without diverting attention from the system-wide CVEC fiber build, which is speeding up to get as many people access to broadband as fast as possible.”

Firefly will construct and operate a fiber-to-the-home internet access using underground facilities for three miles along Loving Road and Campbell Road, making service available to 56 homes. In addition, underground facilities will be used for 1.2 miles to make internet available at the western end of West Green Springs Road, passing 31 homes. In addition to the fiber build, Firefly and Louisa County are partnering to find suitable locations for a free Wi-Fi hotspot in the southwestern part of the county that will provide access at up to 30 mbps with no data caps. “Connectivity is critical to our citizens,” said Christian Goodwin, Louisa County Administrator. “Our Board is grateful to CVEC for their continued collaboration in this important effort.”

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