All Points Broadband breaks ground with help of local leaders; Broadband internet access offered to all Pulaski County

County Supervisors are joined by government and corporate leaders to break ground for a project designed to provide high speed internet access to all residents and businesses in Pulaski County. The ceremony was held in front of Pulaski County Middle School, where All Points Broadband has erected an active network cabinet (seen at the left of photo), which will serve to collect then disseminate information to customers using this service. (William Paine/Patriot Publishing)

By WILLIAM PAINE

Patriot Publishing

Local leaders along with representatives from the Virginia Housing and Community Development Office and All Points Broadband gathered Monday under a tent at the entrance of Pulaski County Middle School to “break ground” on a project set to deliver high speed internet access to all citizens of Pulaski County.

County Administrator Jonathan Sweet acted as the Master of Ceremonies for this groundbreaking event marking what he described as, “the largest public/private infrastructure investment in the history of Pulaski County.”

When the project is completed an estimated 8,700 homes will have high speed internet access for the first time. The funds for this project came from a $29 million Virginia Telecommunications Initiative (VATI) grant and nearly $25 million invested by All Points Broadband.

“This $55 million investment will guarantee that residents and businesses will have the same access to educational resources, business opportunities, telemedicine and other convenient applications that those in the more populous areas of Virginia have come to take for granted,” said 42^nd District Delegate Jason Ballard. “Once thought of as a luxury, internet access has become critical. It’s a necessity for families and businesses to access goods, services and education, as we move continuously towards a digital landscape.”

“Today, we don’t just break ground on construction, we break ground on a new chapter for Pulaski County,” said Laura Walters, chairwoman of the Pulaski County Board of Supervisors. “For too long, the remote beauty of our mountains and valleys has come with a price, slow speeds, dropped calls, families waiting for a loading bar to move. Today we end the waiting. Today we achieve the Pulaski County Board of Supervisor’s bold goal, universal high speed fiber optic broadband for every single home, business and community facility in the county …we’re laying down 420 miles of fiber optic cable, enough to reach from here to Atlanta …And the best part, we achieved this epic and life changing service without raising local taxes on a single county resident. We did it by successfully leveraging state, federal and private funds.”

Walters went on to thank all involved in the initiative, including county staff, elected officials, the New River Valley Regional Commission and the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development (VDHC).

“It was no secret, even before the pandemic, there was a need for broadband access,” said Tamara Holmes of the VDHC. “But in a world that went digital almost overnight, access to broadband became a necessity for participating in everyday life. Suddenly, everything from telehealth to education to e-commerce and telework requires Internet access.”

Holmes praised county and state leadership and went on to say that the goal of the VDHC is to make broadband internet access available in every county in the Commonwealth.

“If you live in Pulaski, go to All Points Broadband.com and order our service,” said Tom Innes, Senior Vice President for Business Development for All Points Broadband in his opening remarks. “This happens to be the 13^th county in Virginia where All Points Broadband has constructed or is constructing for fiber broadband in rural communities. We do this in other states as well, but Virginia is our focus. The fiber that we’re building is going to last a generation and will easily scale with demand over time.”

Innes went on to say that the broadband technology being installed is 10 times faster uploading and downloading than any broadband service currently on the market. According to Innes, the fiber optic lines will be installed on AEP utility poles and this will serve to significantly strengthen the county’s electric grid infrastructure. There are now 20 AEP crews replacing utility poles throughout Pulaski County.

“By the end of the year, we expect to have service in about 2,500 locations and 8,700 locations by the end of the project,” said Innes. “As work progresses on the poles and the fiber installation, we’re going to have service available on a rolling basis through the end of the year, and every single location will be able to sign up by June of 2026.”

After the speakers had their say, County Administrator Jonathan Sweet led attendees to the groundbreaking photo op. County leaders are already planning a ribbon cutting ceremony, likely occurring in the summer of 2026, for when All Points Broadband completes the project.