broadband Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

New Procedures Aim To Streamline Deployment Of Broadband Infrastructure

The Public Service Commission (PSC) on Tuesday adopted recommendations to settle disputes on how companies should share utility poles – a move meant to streamline the implementation of broadband across the state.

The Public Service Commission (PSC) is working to streamline the implementation of broadband across the state.

The PSC on Tuesday adopted recommendations of its Pole Attachment Task Force to settle disputes on how companies should share utility poles.

For broadband to expand across West Virginia, fiber optic cable needs to be attached to utility poles, which are often owned by local electric companies or telephone companies. But disputes between pole owners and other utilities over capacity and access have proven to be a major stumbling block for the maintenance and improvement of infrastructure nationally.

The task force recommendations bring the state closer to recent FCC guidelines and include establishing a Rapid Response Team to mediate disputes, creating a pole information database and requiring annual reports from pole owners.

The PSC noted it will be necessary to have further proceedings in this matter including the collection of data and the creation of a database. The task force was also ordered to meet with state power companies, utilities and the various parties involved within 10 days of the PSC’s order to advance their recommendations.
Lawmakers in the House of Delegates attempted to address pole attachment issues during the 2024 session, but House Bill 4706 failed to pass the Senate.

ARC Grants $32 Million More For W.Va. Broadband

The Appalachian Regional Commission granted the West Virginia Department of Economic Development more than $32 million for broadband service improvements across the state.

Updated on Thursday, May 23, 2024 at 10:38 a.m.

The Appalachian Regional Commission, an economic development organization that operates across Appalachia, has granted the West Virginia Department of Economic Development $32,235,629 for broadband service improvements across the Mountain State.

Broadband refers to continuously running, high-speed internet, which can be harder to access in remote areas that lack infrastructure like fiber-optic cables or transmission towers.

West Virginia lags behind most other states in terms of broadband access. More than 300,000 households across the state are underserved by broadband coverage, and the state ranks second-worst in coverage nationally.

Recent pushes to expand broadband coverage nationally have brought increased attention and investment to West Virginia.

Beginning in 2023, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) developed plans to grant the state more than $1.21 billion for high-speed internet services. That funding received final approval in April, and officials with the Department of Economic Development claimed it would bring broadband internet to every household in the state.

While granted from a different source, the new round of funding — like the NTIA grant before it — is made possible through the federal Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, which aims to bolster broadband infrastructure and services across the country.

The new BEAD funds will be administered by the Department of Economic Development, which oversees the state’s Office of Broadband.

In a Wednesday statement, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said the additional round of federal funding was crucial to ensuring “more West Virginians have access to dependable high-speed internet.”

Additionally, Manchin said expanding broadband services played an important role in growing the state’s economy.

Manchin advocated for the added funds to “help equip every family and business in the Mountain State with the tools they need to thrive in the modern digital economy,” he said.

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., said expanding broadband access has been a top priority for her in working through legislation. “Today, we are continuing to see the benefits of that in our state,” she said.

**Editor’s note: This story was updated to include a statement from Sen. Shelley Moore Capito.

Broadband Funding Theft Case Sparks Fraud Alert

As the state embarks on a massive, federally-funded broadband project, a Morgantown internet service provider is facing federal broadband fund theft charges.

The criminal case alleges that Timothy Chad Henson, owner of Monongalia County internet service provider Clearfiber, Inc., defrauded the federal government for more than a quarter million dollars.

William Ihlenfeld, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of West Virginia, said according to court documents, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Community Connect Program offered grants to eligible applicants providing broadband services to rural areas. On behalf of Clearfiber, Henson applied for, and was awarded, $1.96 million to offer high-speed internet services in Monongalia and Marion counties.

Henson is charged with submitting false invoices to receive more than $340,000 in reimbursement, then transferring $322,900 into another bank account for his personal use.

“The way it works is they don’t simply give you all of the money,” Ihlenfeld said. “The grant is awarded, and then you submit invoices, and then the USDA reimburses you for those invoices that you’ve submitted. What Mr. Henson is alleged to have submitted fabricated invoices, at least 30 of them, for a variety of cable and fiber and broadband companies that operate in and around West Virginia.”

Ihnelfeld said Henson extended his fraudulent schemes outside the state as well.

“He created a document that appeared to be an invoice from a company in North Carolina,” he said. “Hensen submitted it to the USDA and then he was reimbursed for what was indicated on that invoice. The reality of it was that he didn’t actually obtain fiber optic cable from that company. He didn’t obtain services from another company down the road. Instead he fabricated the invoices. He received reimbursement from the grant and then he kept the money for himself.”

Ihlenfeld said the schemes also included ordering thousands of dollars of fiber optic cable from one company.

“Then he turned around and very quickly sold it to another company,” Ihlenfled said. “He didn’t pay the first company for the cable, so they were left holding the bag. They didn’t receive the $209,000 they should have. Hensen turned around and sold it to someone else and pocketed the money that he gained from the sale.”

Ihelnfeld said it’s not just cable companies and taxpayers victimized here, but rural customers who never got intended internet service.

“We’re back to square one with some of these homeowners who don’t have access to broadband,” Ihlenfeld said. “This has been a problem for a long time in our state and there’s a lot of money that is coming in from the federal government to try to help and address this.”

He’s referring to the $1.2 billion federally funded “last mile” broadband project, involving numerous internet service providers. Last mile programs mean helping providers install cable to hook up rural customers, going the “last mile” from established service to their homes.

Del. Daniel Linvlle, R-Cabell, and chair of the House Committee on Technology and Infrastructure, said project fraud safeguards include multiple steps to insure that invoiced work has occurred.

“As we’re actually giving out any of these grants, that money is not transferred until services are actually performed,” Linville said. “So, we’re able to say, look, as you build these things, send us the invoices, and then we will make sure that, that has actually occurred, and then send out the grant dollars for only those portions which have actually happened. We actually have spot checks that are going on as we do these grants to make 100 percent sure that we’re actually getting what it is that we’ve paid for.”

Ihlenfeld hopes the Clearfiber case creates a red flag of fraud due diligence. But, with millions of dollars coming in, and remembering the massive fraud with COVID-19 federal funds, he said he fears the worst.

“With the enormous amounts of money that are going to be thrown at broadband in West Virginia and across the country, we will see more cases, like we have here with Timothy Hansen,” Ihlenfeld said. “I think we can take steps, and the holders of the money can take steps, to make it much more difficult for fraud to occur by engaging in very thorough due diligence and not trusting any invoice and verifying every invoice, and then following up and making sure that the work is actually being done, as it’s been promised.”

Ihlenfeld said there is a tentative plea agreement reached in the case including restitution and prison time.

“He has to face the United States District Court judge who is going to be asked by the government, by me, to impose a lengthy jail sentence,” Ihlenfeld said.

Henson is scheduled for an initial appearance on May 29 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael John Aloi. He faces up to 10 years in federal prison.

$1.2 Billion Grant To Expand Broadband Coverage To All W.Va. Homes

The U.S. Department of Commerce has granted West Virginia $1.2 billion for affordable broadband services. More than 300,000 West Virginia households were underserved by broadband in 2023.

Spotty internet access has long proven an issue for the mountainsides of West Virginia.

In 2023, more than 300,000 households across the state were unserved or underserved by broadband coverage. This month, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) found that coverage in the Mountain State ranks second-worst nationally, besting only Alaska.

But a new federal grant aims to address current gaps in coverage, ensuring that every household can receive broadband internet services.

On Thursday, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) granted West Virginia more than $1.21 billion for high-speed internet services based on a plan first announced in 2023.

The funding comes from the $42.45 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program — part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that President Joe Biden signed into effect in 2021.

These funds will go toward the creation of new broadband internet infrastructure in regions with low internet download and upload speeds.

West Virginia residents can anticipate improvements to their internet services between one-and-a-half and five years after funds are distributed, according to Evan Feinman, BEAD program director.

Specific timelines vary from region to region based on “proximity to existing infrastructure,” he said during a virtual press briefing Thursday.

State grants were determined based on current broadband coverage needs, and were finalized through a collaboration between state and federal officials, Feinman said.

This meant coordinating with the West Virginia Department of Economic Development’s Office of Broadband.

After an initial figure for the state’s grant was set by NTIA in 2023, state officials had to develop specific plans for how grant dollars would be spent, according to Kelly Collins Workman, the office’s director.

This included crafting a five-year plan for how improvements would be implemented, plus strategies for promoting digital equity across the state, she said.

When the “historic opportunity” to participate in the BEAD program came along, Collins Workman said her office “poured our heart and soul” into the application process “to secure $1.2 billion for our state.”

“We jumped in with both feet,” she said. “We worked as hard as we could, as fast as we could.”

Mitch Carmichael, cabinet secretary for the department, said the collaboration was crucial to expanding economic resources for West Virginians.

“When we connect people in every corner of our state — and every hill and every valley and every region — the world becomes a better place,” he said.

Carmichael emphasized that changes provided by the program would be sweeping. “This program will reach every address. Every single address,” he said.

The BEAD grant comes during a particularly tenuous moment for affordable internet services nationally, as funding for a federal internet subsidy program used widely in West Virginia is set to lapse this month.

Since 2021, the FCC has provided broadband internet subsidies to low-income households nationwide through the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP).

More than 127,000 West Virginia households rely on the program for support. But a renewal of the program’s funding has failed to receive bipartisan support in Congress, despite pushes from Democratic lawmakers.

Feinman said ACP’s goals differ from those of the BEAD program. Where ACP provides households financial support to afford internet services, BEAD creates infrastructure so that it is possible to access the internet in the first place.

Still, Feinman said the two programs have overlapping missions, and that NTIA officials were “disappointed” by the program’s imminent expiration.

“A kid who grows up in a house with a reliable internet connection has a higher GPA, [and is] more likely to go to postsecondary education,” he said. “Elderly folks can age in place safely. There’s such tremendous benefits to having folks get online.”

Feinman said that the existence of subsidy programs like ACP gave way to the development of new broadband infrastructure programs like BEAD.

With more residents able to afford internet services, companies were encouraged to spread their infrastructure projects nationally, he said. This includes the rural and low-income communities targeted by programs like BEAD.

“The program going away is going to make it more expensive to build these networks,” Feinman said. “That said, we are still going to be able to get them to every single West Virginia home and business.”

While ACP’s renewal struggled to receive bipartisan support on the Senate floor, state officials’ praise for the BEAD program stretched across the aisle.

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said that the BEAD program has provided important resources to residents across West Virginia. In a Thursday statement, he renewed his commitment to ensuring the state can “deliver broadband service to every West Virginia family and business.”

Likewise, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., said in a Thursday statement that the new grant would “better connect homes, businesses and classrooms across the state.”

“While there is still a long road ahead to getting more West Virginians connected, we are well on our way,” she said.

Internet Service Providers Required To Display Consumer Friendly Product Labeling

The new federal rules say any company, large or small, that offers standalone broadband internet service is required to prominently display consumer friendly labels at the point of sale, including in store and online.

Broadband labeling has been in development since 2015, and was completed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Biden Administration.

The new federal rules take effect April 10, 2024. They say any company, large or small, that offers standalone broadband internet service is required to prominently display consumer friendly labels at the point of sale, including in store and online.

This broadband label was purposefully stylized after food nutrition labels.

*Courtesy of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)*

The labeling will resemble the nutrition labels found on food products. The labels must be easy-to-read and include broadband prices, introductory rate details, data allowances and broadband speeds. The labels must also include easy-to-navigate links to learn more about available discounts or service bundles, network management practices and privacy policies.

Separate labels must be displayed for each standalone broadband service offered and it cannot be buried where multiple clicks are reduced to a link, thumbnail or icon that a consumer might miss.

FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau Chief Alejandro Roark said it was vital to get internet access service clarified and simplified.

“The FCC borrowed the nutrition label model format from food products because we wanted to make basic information about broadband internet service easily recognizable and easy to understand,” Roark said. “Our rules require that these labels be fully displayed at the point of sale, including on the main purchasing pages that providers may have online.”

Deputy Director of the White House National Economic Council Jon Donenberg said the labels will help consumers comparison shop for internet service, eliminating obscure terms and fine print.

“It will make sure that you have a clear, straightforward explanation of your home internet and mobile plans and services before you sign up for anything,” Donenberg said. “That transparency will also save you money. By making it easier to directly compare plans from one provider to another. Consumers will be able to get the best and most affordable deal on the market or the exact type of service that they need. And companies can compete on offering better terms, not just more confusing ones.”

Roark said the labeling requirements will be extended to the consumer’s monthly bills.

“We’re also making sure that consumers access the standardized, easy to understand information about their internet service plan and doesn’t end when they sign up for service.” Roark said. “In particular, the commission required internet service providers to make the labels accessible on a consumer’s online account. That means that consumers will be able to find this information whenever they pay their bill, compare their current plan to other plans, or engage in any other activity online.”

Regarding potential violations of the broadband labeling laws, the FCC Enforcement Bureau and other bureaus will monitor public reporting consumer complaints to the commission, notices from partner agencies and use other investigative tools to monitor compliance with the law, and refer matters to the Enforcement Bureau as appropriate.

Consumers who feel that the transparency rules are not being met may file complaints with the FCC. The commission will follow up on those complaints to see if there is some larger pattern that may need to be acted on.

To view a glossary that helps consumers better understand the information displayed on the label, click here.

Click here for a sample home broadband label.

Click here for a sample mobile broadband label.

Senate Education Chair Weighs In On Bills To Address Educational Problems In W.Va.

On this episode of The Legislature Today, from staffing to security, West Virginia’s schools are facing a variety of issues. Bills introduced this year have ranged from associate degrees for vocational students to reducing barriers to teacher certification. Chris Schulz spoke with Senate Education Chair Sen. Amy Grady, R-Mason, about legislative action to address the state’s educational problems.

On this episode of The Legislature Today, from staffing to security, West Virginia’s schools are facing a variety of issues. Bills introduced this year have ranged from associate degrees for vocational students to reducing barriers to teacher certification. Chris Schulz spoke with Senate Education Chair Sen. Amy Grady, R-Mason, about legislative action to address the state’s educational problems.

In the House, lawmakers considered bills on third reading that included cutting the Social Security tax, getting broadband fiber optic cable on poles, and making it easier to visit certain gravesites. Randy Yohe has the story.

In the Senate, the chamber looked at bills on missing children, SNAP benefits, and Oil and Gas property taxes. Briana Heaney has more.

Also, the House Education Committee moved to address a critical shortage of special education staff, while the Senate Education Committee took a rarely seen action in their meeting. Chris Schulz has the story.

Finally, war hero Hershel “Woody” Williams was honored at the U.S. Capitol following his death. Now, a statue of him could be on permanent display there. Curtis Tate has more.

And, scientific and social research has to start somewhere. On Undergraduate Research Day at the Capitol you can learn how theory and hypothesis develop into pragmatic information meant to help people.

Having trouble viewing the video below? Click here to watch it on YouTube.

The Legislature Today is West Virginia’s only television/radio simulcast devoted to covering the state’s 60-day regular legislative session.

Watch or listen to new episodes Monday through Friday at 6 p.m. on West Virginia Public Broadcasting.