Shenandoah Telecommunications to Develop Fiber-Optic Network in Page County

Shenandoah Telecommunications (Shentel) announced that it has signed an agreement with Page County Broadband Authority to develop a 39 mile optical fiber network in Page County, Virginia.

Under the terms of the agreement, the fiber-optic network will cover the Page County from Rileyville community to Shenandoah and will pass within 500 ft of every health-care facility, library, school and town facility.

Once the fiber-optic network becomes operational, the broadband authority will rent the network to major service providers and institutions. The proceeds obtained from the network operations will help in expanding the broadband network in the Page County. The network’s path and the institutions to be linked in the initial construction phase will be decided in an engineering study.

The 2009 American Recovery and Re-Investment Act (ARRA) provided a federal grant that helped in developing the Page County Fiber Network. According to broadband authority officials, the fiber-optic network would allow service providers to offer cost-effective and faster broadband services to the Page County.