Fiber-Optic Network to be Expanded in Southeastern Virginia

Old Dominion University (ODU) has received a $10 million grant for the expansion of speed and the potential of optical fiber in southeastern Virginia. The university has collaborated with the Mid-Atlantic Broadband Cooperative (MBC) for fiber optics project.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration of the U. S. Department of Commerce has awarded the grant. MBC and ODU are also investing $1.2 million each for the deployment of a 170-mile high-speed Internet infrastructure in the next two years. The optical fiber project will go beyond the MBC network’s existing connection points in Wakefield and Emporia. The fiber-optic network will be built in rural communities such as the cities of Franklin and Suffolk, Surry and Isle of Wight counties, Sussex, and Southampton.

The fiber-optics project will connect over 60 community institutions including emergency response departments, hospitals and schools. This will enable the agencies to buy new telecom services. The project will also offer high-speed communication technology to Norfolk’s ODU to boost the education and research on campus. The other beneficiary of the project will be the Eastern Lightwave Interconnect Enterprise (E-LITE) network of southeastern Virginia.