AGENDA DATE: 11/1/2023
TITLE:
Title
Albemarle Broadband Authority Quarterly Report
BODY
SUBJECT/PROPOSAL/REQUEST: Receive the Albemarle Broadband Authority Quarterly Report
ITEM TYPE: Consent Information Item
STAFF CONTACT(S): Richardson, Henry, Fritz, Culp
PRESENTER (S): N/A
LEGAL REVIEW: Not Required
REVIEWED BY: Jeffrey B. Richardson
BACKGROUND: The Albemarle Broadband Authority (ABBA) was incorporated on August 21, 2017, to extend affordable broadband internet service access to every customer in Albemarle County. This quarterly report is being provided as information on ABBA’s work from July - September 2023.
STRATEGIC PLAN: Infrastructure Investment - Prioritize, plan, and invest in critical infrastructure that responds to past and future changes and improves the capacity to serve community needs.
DISCUSSION: ABBA held seven public meetings in 2023. ABBA conducted its annual meeting on August 23, 2023 and reinstated all officers of the Authority. The ABBA agendas and meeting minutes are posted for public review on the County’s website. During this reporting period, ABBA and the Broadband Accessibility and Affordability Office (BAAO) began the additional work necessary to close-out the Virginia Telecommunication Initiative (VATI) 2021 project and continued work through a partnership with the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission (TJPDC) on the VATI 2022 project, which combined will achieve universal broadband access in Albemarle County by the end of 2025.
During this reporting period, BAAO worked with Brightspeed and identified that Brightspeed missed several areas of the County during its VATI 2021 project. A letter from Brightspeed recognizing the missed addresses was under development toward the end of September. Brightspeed will finalize the letter and deliver a plan to correct to ABBA and Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD). BAAO is working with ABBA to finalize and a separate report on the project is to be provided to the Board during October 2023.
BAAO also developed a request for information from each of the fiber providers in the County. After hearing from four of the fiber providers, BAAO selected Firefly Fiber Broadband to work with the County to extend the VATI 2022 project to additional households. As part of the project, ABBA agreed to an appropriation of available funds to the project. The funding appropriation is scheduled to occur in October, with plans for BAAO to report monthly to ABBA on the new Firefly Fiber Broadband project this funding supports.
BAAO continued monitoring the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) Bridge benefit, which extends the $30 per month federal ACP benefit by adding up to an additional $20 per month for eligible households. During this reporting period, BAAO implemented a grant-funded ACP Outreach program and completed preparations in recognition of Digital Inclusion Week, October 2 through October 6, 2023.
BUDGET IMPACT: There is an expected $ 117,044 in ABBA funds to be reappropriated to the new Firefly Fiber Broadband project.
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
Staff recommends that the Board receive this report for information.
ATTACHMENTS:
A - Quarterly Report