RICHMOND — Internet at the speed of light could reach nearly 40 schools in Bedford and Campbell counties with a federal grant of stimulus funds announced Monday.
A $16 million grant will help Mid-Atlantic Broadband Cooperative extend service from its fiber-optic, high-speed network to 22 schools in Bedford County and 17 in Campbell County, the U.S. Department of Commerce said.
Bedford County also stands to benefit from a $5.5 million grant that will link Bedford city to a fiber-optic network that serves Virginia Tech and six counties in the Blacksburg-Roanoke region.
Most of the schools have Internet service, but use slower connections.
“Fiber-optic cabling is the fastest infrastructure you can have,” said Bryan David, director of Region 2000 in Lynchburg, as he described the grants’ impact. “You can’t get faster than the speed of light,” he said.
Rep. Tom Perriello, D-5th District, and Sens. Mark Warner and Jim Webb joined in announcing the grants.
The network will be expanded fairly quickly, David said, because the federal funds must be spent by the end of 2012.
Distance learning and virtual classrooms will become possible because of the grants, the Commerce Department said.
About 465 miles of new cable will connect 121 schools, with grades K-12, to Southside and Southwest Virginia’s existing network.
Tad Deriso, spokesman for Mid-Atlantic Broadband in South Boston, said the grant will improve Internet connections to schools in Tobacco Commission counties that don’t already have the fastest-possible service, including Bedford, Campbell, Pittsylvania and Henry counties.
Lynchburg will benefit indirectly from the grant, David said, because its economy is intertwined with the surrounding counties.
Eventually, the high-speed broadband will help recruit more business and industry to the region, David said.
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