Though I have not hiked the Appalachian Trail, as Senator Tim Kaine says he has done — twice; I have twice traversed our Commonwealth, visiting every rural and urban community.
The Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program, recently adopted by the U.S. Congress at Kaine’s urging, will greatly aid areas of our state which have been historically underfunded, sometimes purposely so.
The BEAD program aims to prioritize underserved locations that have low-speed or no internet access.
The program “provides $42.45 billion to expand high-speed internet access by funding planning, infrastructure deployment and adoption programs in all 50 states and U.S. territories …”
Access to information is essential to education, which remains the prime motivation for our collective success — and we should never forget that.
Stay tuned.