BEDFORD — In a step along a mutual path to usher in broadband service to rural areas of Central Virginia, Bedford and Amherst counties are seeking to partner with DigitalBridge Communications Corporation.
The Bedford County Broadband Authority voted 5-1 Monday, with one member absent, to enter into negotiations with the Ashburn-based firm. A contract will be executed if those talks are successful, according the authority’s motion.
Amherst County’s broadband authority took a similar vote last week, said Bryan David, executive director of Region 2000’s Economic Development Council.
County supervisors from both localities took steps last year to establish the authorities and serve as their members. An authority is an entity that partners with private providers to expand coverage. Residents and businesses in both counties have expressed the need for better service, according to officials.
Each county received two responses from interested firms before selecting DigitalBridge, David said. They would each file “stand alone” applications for federal stimulus dollars to aid their efforts that he said would benefit the region.
“We feel very good about the competitiveness,” David said of pursuits for federal stimulus money, adding that local tax dollars would not initiated for the network projects.
Steve Arrington, the Bedford supervisor and authority member to vote against the partnership, said Monday, “I do know we’re in the 21st century.”
However, Arrington, a Republican, said it would be hypocritical to support it since he fundamentally opposes the stimulus, which he has publicly labeled as wasteful spending.
Bedford supervisor and authority member Annie Pollard said she has also, in some ways, questioned the stimulus but said she feels this is a worthwhile endeavor that would benefit her constituents in the western part of the county.
“Broadband, to me, is just as important as phone service,” Pollard said.
DigitalBridge in late 2009 signed a contract with Liberty University and Virginia School of the Arts to use the schools’ broadcast licenses to provide wireless high-speed Internet access throughout the Lynchburg area.
The company has also launched its wireless WiMAX service in Appomattox. WiMAX is a wireless technology similar to WiFi networks in homes and libraries but its reach is greater and it is more secure.
“We have a very capable company,” David said. “The economic development potential is huge.”
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