On September 16, 2022, Governor Justice announced the award to fund the Summers County GigReady program. This effort will bring Facebook fiber from Ghent on I-77 down WV-3 to the Hinton bypass and is a collaboration between the Summers and Raleigh County Commissions. The Summers County portion is $4,937,529 with part coming from the WV Office of Broadband, and the remainder coming as matching funds from the ISP Gigabeam Networks, Inc. This project will target over 1000 addresses. The Summers County Commission, submitting their application through Region 1 Planning and Development, had initially proposed a project of $3 million, and it was then increased to almost $5 million.
Summers County Commissioner Ted Kula explained, “This is exciting as it will get us to the finish line even sooner in covering Summers County in fiber broadband.” He compared it to building roads, in that since the funding is now in place, the hard work can now begin in running the fiber along existing poles and to individual homes.
This is one of multiple projects that the County Commission is pursuing in broadband, so students can take online classes, families can reach out to telehealth doctors and enjoy online entertainment, and businesses and professionals can depend on reliable internet.
