Broadband aid
A couple of Holstein cows poke their heads through the metal gates of the barn as Mark Sowers fiddles with one of his most important pieces of farm equipment — a smartphone. Sowers opens an app on his phone that gives him real-time information from the nearly 300 milking cows that roam Huckleberry Dairy, the […]
Shentel to acquire Ohio fiber company
Edinburg-based Shenandoah Telecommunications, better known as Shentel, plans to acquire Horizon Telcom for $385 million, the company announced Tuesday. Shentel will pay $305 million in cash and the rest in common stock. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2024. Ohio-based Horizon, founded in 1895, is a commercial fiber provider with […]
RVA757 Connects releases plan for global internet hub
RVA757 Connects, a nonprofit focused on regional cooperation for economic development in Richmond and Hampton Roads, released on Thursday its 10-point strategic plan for transforming the “megaregion” into the next global internet hub. Virginia is already home to the world’s largest internet hub in Loudoun County’s Ashburn area, which has the world’s greatest concentration of [...]
Va. to receive $6.22M to expand broadband
Virginia is receiving $6.22 million in “Internet for All” federal grants funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced Thursday. “As we continue to compete in the 21st century, it is crucial that we close the digital divide in Virginia,” U.S. Sen. Mark Warner said […]
Henrico aims to become coastal internet hub
Henrico isn’t the new Ashburn, but the county does have 18% of the East Coast’s internet traffic coursing through it. That’s a product of QTS Data Centers’ network access point (NAP) at Henrico’s White Oak Technology Park, which connects to three subsea internet cables from Europe and South America that converge in Virginia Beach. In […]
New Kent, Cox announce $34M internet expansion
New Kent County and Cox Communications Inc. have announced a $34 million public-private partnership to bring internet access via a fiber-optic network to all county residents and businesses. Work on the first phase is scheduled to begin this month and includes building out service to support 3,000 county residents who don’t currently have broadband access, according […]
Lumos plans Hampton Roads fiber internet expansion
Lumos announced last week an $83 million ultra-high-speed fiber internet expansion that is expected to extend 100-gigabyte capacity over 760 miles in Hampton Roads, affecting as many as 85,000 residents and businesses across Virginia Beach, Chesapeake and Portsmouth by 2025. According to a news release, construction is expected to begin in 2023 and take two […]
Carsales.com to fully acquire Trader Interactive
Australian online auto sales forum Carsales.com Ltd. plans to acquire the remaining 51% of Norfolk-based Trader Interactive from Eurozeo and Goldman Sachs Asset Management for $839.14 million, the companies announced this week. Carsales.com bought 49% of Trader Interactive in August 2021 for $624 million and will now own the company in its entirety, funding the […]
Metronet names Va. market leader
Fiber optic company Metronet hired Andrew Brummette in April to be its Virginia market leader, the company announced Monday. Evansville, Indiana-based Metronet is expanding to Norfolk, its first foray into Virginia, where it will build a fiber optic network and offer internet service to city residents. Brummette is based in Norfolk, where Metronet has 11 […]
Globalinx to add new subsea cable landing site in Va. Beach
Virginia Beach will have four more subsea bore pipes in Sandbridge by the third quarter of 2023, infrastructure that will allow more high-speed subsea cables connecting Virginia to Europe, Asia, the Caribbean and the Americas, the city announced Friday. Virginia Beach-based Globalinx Subsea Colocation provides colocation space for MAREA, BRUSA and DUNANT high-speed subsea telecommunication [&helli[...]
Va. invests $722M in broadband expansion
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam this week announced a state investment of $722 million in grants toward expanding high-speed internet service in 70 localities across the commonwealth. The governor says the funding will help Virginia achieve 90% of its universal broadband access goal by 2024. “Broadband access impacts every facet of our daily lives, from education […]
Reston domain registry appoints chief tech officer
Rick Wilhelm assumed the role of chief technology officer for the Reston-based nonprofit Public Interest Registry on Monday. Founded in 2002 by the Internet Society, a Reston-based nonprofit internet advocacy organization, PIR operates the .org top-level internet domain, which is responsible for more than 10.5 million domain names registered worldwide. “PIR believes that more and […]