Bedford County Taps ZiTEL to Finish 3,200-Address Broadband Project in 10 Months
Updated
Updated · Government Technology · Aug 18
Bedford County Taps ZiTEL to Finish 3,200-Address Broadband Project in 10 Months
1 articles · Updated · Government Technology · Aug 18
Summary
Bedford County unanimously approved a contract Tuesday for local provider ZiTEL to complete the long-delayed New London broadband build after RiverStreet Networks failed to finish the 2022 project.
RiverStreet has connected about 2,150 of roughly 3,200 planned addresses, built about 180 of 265 fiber miles and signed around 500 subscribers, leaving the county pushing more than a year for permission to replace it.
ZiTEL was the only bidder, committed to a 50% cost match and no added county cost, and accepted a 10-month completion target that officials said could be beaten.
The handoff also aligns with a recommended BEAD-funded ZiTEL project for the county's remaining 1,600 unserved addresses, which officials said would move Bedford toward universal broadband coverage.
Bedford's switch comes as RiverStreet's wider regional rollout faltered more severely: officials said a separate Franklin-Henry-Patrick project planned for nearly 15,000 addresses completed only 40.
Will ZiTEL's local crews truly save Bedford's internet rollout, or is the new ten-month completion timeline just another empty promise?
How did a broadband company lacking proper financing manage to secure a massive multi-county government contract in the first place?
What hidden financial penalties might the former contractor face after abandoning thousands of rural Virginia residents without promised internet access?