Over the next five years, Central Virginia Electric Cooperative (CVEC) aims to give all of its customers in 14 counties, including more rural parts of Buckingham, Cumberland and Prince Edward, an opportunity to potentially receive fiber broadband, or high-quality internet access.

CVEC recently began building fiber broadband out of a substation in Appomattox.

Gary Wood, CVEC CEO, said because the cooperative itself cannot offer internet service due to state laws, CVEC officials decide to launch a subsidiary called Firefly Fiber Broadband.

Wood said customers purchase the broadband, but the proceeds will go back to serve the customers.

The fiber project crosses 1,600 homes and businesses along Appomattox, starting at Bent Creek along Route 26 to the village of Appomattox. Wood said the broadband also stretched east on Route 24 just onto the edge of Buckingham County, where approximately 100 people in Buckingham were estimated to have been reached.

Approximately 750 have signed up for service. Out of the 750 customers, 300 are connected to the broadband. The remaining 450 are expected to be connected in the next four to six weeks.

“We anticipate making service available to about 9,000 total homes by year-end of 2019 in the various parts of our service area,” Wood said. “We are building at a rate of 15 to 20 miles of fiber each week, so we are going pretty fast with the construction but it’s a huge project so it takes a while to complete the whole system.”

Wood described a fiber optic communication system as one that uses laser light beamed through glass fibers to transmit data.

“It can move more data and it can move data faster than any other form of communication system since it moves at the speed of light,” Wood said. “It is the fastest known form of communication system and is capable of delivering data speeds as fast as anywhere in the world. And it will be right here in rural central Virginia with this project.”

CVEC currently services 4,467 customers in Buckingham, 1,281 customers in Cumberland and 128 customers in Prince Edward.

Wood said customers have given positive feedback about the fiber broadband. Package options being offered include high-speed internet with unlimited data at 100 megabits per second or 1 gigabit per second of unlimited data.

Wood added that the fiber broadband has perks for the electric cooperative as well. The fiber will give the cooperative the ability to communicate with all of the equipment at its various substations and distribution lines. When the power goes out, Wood said this communication could potentially help restore outages faster than it may have normally and increase efficiencies in systems.

Wood contended that internet is just as important for residents, business owners and families to have as electricity.

“We think it will be good for business, good for health care, good for education, and will overall improve the quality of life for rural citizens,” Wood said.

Buckingham County Administrator Rebecca Carter said Buckingham County agreed to be an applicant for a Virginia Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission grant. Private companies cannot apply for a Tobacco Commission grant, but can co-sign if it is a co-applicant with localities.

“I think this may be the only good opportunity for this service to reach some of the rural secluded areas where other companies will not build out,” Carter said, citing that there may not be enough customers in the rural regions to generate profit for larger companies.

Wood said the grant would help CVEC fund 25 percent of fiber broadband construction out of a substation in the Pamplin area. Wood said the grant does not require the county to provide any financial resources.

The broadband is estimated to travel near the general area of Town of Pamplin, near Prospect and stretching toward the Holliday Lake area, serving an estimated 600 residents and businesses. Wood said building from Pamplin could let the CVEC establish more fiber broadband in Buckingham County. Construction could begin at the beginning of 2020 even if the CVEC receives the grant.

“We have to do it one step at a time, and this construction will give us a path to those future areas,” Wood said.

The CVEC currently has an electric substation in the Cartersville area. Wood said the CVEC could install fiber optic cables out of the substation within the next few years.

Wood thanked customers for their patience. The CVEC reports approximately 37,000 total customers in its service area.