Judy Rowe, chair of the Mathews Broadband Advisory Board, announced to the Mathews Board of Supervisors on Tuesday that the county had been awarded grant funding that will expand broadband connectivity in the county, providing service to nearly 600 residences and businesses over the coming year.

Rowe said she was thrilled, and that the project will have “a huge impact.”

“VATI told us to think big,” said Rowe of advice from the Virginia Telecommunications Initiative, “and we did think big, and we won big.”

Assisted by consultant Jeff Beekhoo of Broadband Telecom, the broadband board applied for two Virginia Telecommunication Initiative grants last year.

One grant, submitted in conjunction with Atlantic Broadband, will provide $4.2 million to construct a regional-fiber-to-home network to serve a total of 1,249 units, including 142 businesses, in Mathews, Caroline, Lancaster and Middlesex counties. In Mathews, the network will provide broadband access for 402 residences.

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