Many parts of Virginia are still without high-speed internet, and that's expected to be a major topic of conversation next year during the General Assembly session.
Another year, another delay. That's been the story of broadband expansion for many years, although now lawmakers have some new recommendations from the nonpartisan Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission. The group says lawmakers should consider requiring contracts to have performance targets and even penalizing internet service providers that don't do what they say they're going to do.
"I think we also need to consider if an ISP provider is so far behind or at some point it's clear that he cannot meet or she cannot make the deadline, we need to consider the county moving to another provider,” says Delegate Mark Sickles, a Democrat from Fairfax.
Senate Republican Leader Ryan McDougle says the federal government is the reason Virginia is not meeting the goals.
"One of the problems has been the federal program has had a number of delays, and that's caused the issue," he says. "Virginia has been doing a tremendous job of trying to get broadband to citizens that are not served like many of the ones I represent."
Southside Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley are the areas that have the biggest problem with availability of high-speed internet, according to the report.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
