n LOUDOUN
4 | n EDUCATION
VOL. 9, NO. 24
Broadband Expansion Deadline Pushed to 2025 BY HANNA PAMPALONI
hpampaloni@loudounnow.org
Just months after being told by project leaders that the effort to extend broadband service to more than 8,600 homes in western Loudoun was on track to be mostly completed by the end of the year, supervisors learned last week that the deadline is being pushed back 15 months. The $61 million project—funded by federal and state grants, Dominion Energy and internet provider All Points Broadband—envisions the construction of 620 miles of fiber, with 175 miles to be attached to utility poles. The project stems from a 2020 initiative brought forward by Supervisor Caleb A. Kershner (R-Catoctin) and former Supervisor Tony Buffington (R-Blue Ridge), which resulted in the board directing staff to begin working on a way to speed the delivery and expansion of broadband service in underserved and unserved areas of the county. Assistant Director of Information Technology Dave Friedrich told the board during an April 17 briefing that the increased need for utility pole attachments across the county and the state will push
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16 | n PUBLIC NOTICES
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APRIL 25, 2024
Flower & Garden Festival Draws Record Crowds Record crowds returned to downtown Leesburg on Saturday and Sunday for the town’s 34th annual Flower and Garden Festival. Visitors and locals enjoyed a rain-free weekend and packed the streets to celebrate spring while sampling the offerings of 150 vendors, listening to live music, and enjoying the tastes of carnival food. “All indications are that attendance at this year’s Flower & Garden Festival surpassed 2023’s record-breaking 40,000+ attendance,” town Public Information Officer Kara Rodriguez said. “We received reports from our vendors that it was their best day of business at the festival since they began participating, and heard similar comments from downtown businesses about how successful the weekend the estimated completion date for the project from July 2024 to October 2025. Contractors working on the broadband expansion must submit applications to attach lines to existing utility poles owned by Dominion Energy and the Northern Virginia Electrical Cooperative. “We’d like to emphasize that our partners are dedicated to having broadband service available to the first county resident in the calendar year 2024,” Friedrich said.
Norman Styer/Loudoun Now
was for them.” “We were particularly pleased with the lively atmosphere of the Garden
Patch area that boasted activities for children. We are looking forward to another great event next year,” she said. n
All Points Vice President of Business Development Tom Innes said, despite the delay, the project was moving forward. “The key number here is that [since December] we have had a 16 times increase in the number of poles that have been made ready for All Points to attach our fiber,” he said, adding that currently 4,400 poles were ready with another 8,000 in the review process. Initially, the applications to attach to Dominion utility poles totaled about
10,000 statewide. But Dominion received requests for approximately 125,000 poles in 2023. All Points plans to submit applications for 13,000 Dominion and NOVEC poles in Loudoun alone and has surveyed approximately 17,000 individual poles. Dominion representatives said as the funding for the project increased, BROADBAND EXPANSION continues on page 33
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