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Wireless access on the way for K.G. Date published: 2/26/2008
Slow and cumbersome is how King George County resident Brian Roush describes his Internet connection.
But Roush could be surfing much faster in the not-so-distant future. Last month, county officials finalized a public-private contract with Virginia Broadband LLC to offer wireless Internet access. The service is scheduled to launch in early April after the first tower behind King George Middle School is equipped to send wireless signals. Allen Taliaferro, data director for Virginia Broadband, said the company has plans for 11 towers in the county, bringing at least one or two online a month until the first phase is finished in December. Those towers will cover more than 70 percent of the county's geographic area--and 80 percent of its homes and businesses. A second phase, if needed, would expand geographic coverage to at least 95 percent of the county and most likely 100 percent of residents, Taliaferro said. The company is contractually obligated to deliver access to a minimum of 95 percent of the county's geographic area. "We feel very good that coverage will be [coming] to parts of the county that wouldn't otherwise have access to service," County Administrator Bryan David said. The deal comes after more than a year of planning and negotiating, often frustrating residents eager for faster service. "There wasn't a model, there weren't contracts and technical criteria to follow of how to develop a public-private partnership," David said. "A lot of what we had to do was original work." Supervisors agreed to allow Virginia Broadband to install its equipment on water tanks, towers and other county infrastructure. They recently approved $52,000 in county funds to cover legal and technical advising costs. And the county has agreed to facilitate up to $740,000 in loans for Virginia Broadband to help with startup costs. The new service will increase Internet download speeds to broadband levels for residents, schools and businesses in King George that had previously been limited to dial-up speeds. The county's main employer, the Naval Support Facility at Dahlgren, has both wired and wireless Internet through the military. David said the Virginia Broadband project means base workers used to having "robust Internet" at work can now escape the frustration of using slower dial-up service at home. It's something he considers a quality-of-life improvement, like the arrival of electricity in rural areas in the 20th century. "To me that's a real critical point. We're certainly giving them one of the critical tools to be successful in life today," David said. For Roush, the upgrade can't come fast enough. "We're just hoping that the county can work with the provider and get it installed in a timely manner," he said. "We've been promised it for the past year, and we're just waiting for it to come to fruition." Corey Byers: 540/735-1976
Read more stories about King George Date published: 2/26/2008
Faithful_Reader has great suggestions IF those services were available to everyone in KG county. I live in the Comorn area of the county, 1.5 mies off Rt 3 and cannot get DSL or cable. I cannot get ANY satellite service UNLESS I cut down acres of trees. Broadband is my only (albeit expensive) hope to have faster internet than the dial up I have lived with for 20+ years.
For the pricing structure offered by Virginia Broadband, and the mediocre speeds and download limits, why not pick a satellite internet service like WildBlue or Hughes? The latency is higher so they are not so good for gaming or voice, but for downloading software patches, music, etc. they are much better. And they are available now. I have been using WildBlue for 2.5 years in Jersey VA and have been very satisfied. You might also want to checkout Sprint's EVDO service which is $69/mon.
King George County Government is giving them free antenna locations, $52,000 for legal costs, $740,000 for startup costs, I as a taxpayer pay a part of that plus I am expected to pay $299 to hook them up plus up to $90 a month? Where do I sign up?? No, not for this broadband, but to open a business in King George and get all that tax money thrown at me to get started.
Better save some of that taxmoney dear Board Members because the school board needs it for their outrageous budget.
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