Homes and businesses in Cumberland and Buckingham counties may benefit from nearly $4 million over 10 years from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to receive broadband access.

According to a release from the FCC provided by the offices of Sen. Tim Kaine and Sen. Mark Warner, the funding is expected to serve more than 1,500 homes and businesses in Buckingham and Cumberland. More specifically, the broadband access is expected to be installed at 426 locations in Buckingham and 1,137 locations in Cumberland.

“Broadband access is vital in today’s economy, and we’re thrilled this investment will expand it to more Virginians,” Warner and Kaine said in a statement. “This funding will help thousands of people in rural Virginia access high-speed internet and the online resources they need to succeed.”

According to the release, providers set to install the broadband begin receiving funding this month.

Central Virginia Services, which does business under the trade name Firefly Fiber Broadband and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Central Virginia Electric Cooperative (CVEC), is the provider expected to install broadband to Buckingham and Cumberland.

The download speed for the program will be 1 Gbps (gigabits per second, equivalent to 1,000 megabits per second), and the upload speed is expected to be 500 Mbps (megabits per second).

A typical High Definition (HD) movie has about 6 gigabits of total data, CVEC officials said. At the download speed of 1 Gbps, the movie would download in about six seconds.

CVEC Communications & Member Services Manager Melissa Gay said Firefly will have special business packages available for area businesses.

Cumberland would receive $2,888,183 in support and Buckingham would receive $1,684,113. Both counties will receive support over 10 years.

Buckingham administration cited that the funds are part of an existing agreement with CVEC to provide more broadband access into the county.

Gary Wood, president and CEO of CVEC, said that the CVEC is working to get fiber extended to houses and businesses listed in the FCC release to provide communications capabilities for CVEC as well as allowing CVEC members to use it for broadband access.

Wood said the funding from the FCC is necessary to provide the broadband service to members in the counties.

“We believe that broadband internet has become another essential utility that must be reliable and affordable to allow rural living to remain a viable option for young families, retirees, and business people who choose to locate outside of the urban areas,” Wood said.

The FCC recently authorized nearly $37 million in funding over the next decade to expand broadband to nearly 13,900 un-served rural Virginia homes and businesses in 34 counties, according to the release from the FCC.

“I’m pleased to announce that funding starts now for buildout of high-speed internet service to nearly 13,900 rural Virginia homes and businesses, which will bring them to the right side of the digital divide and give them access to the 21st-century opportunities that broadband offers,” FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said in the release. “Providers will be deploying gigabit-speed connections to all the locations for which funding is being authorized … making cutting-edge broadband available to these rural consumers.