Broadband Internet

A sweeping broadband bill recently passed by the West Virginia Legislature provides protections for current and future internet customers.

Panel discussions during the West Virginia Press Association's annual Legislative Lookahead brought together lawmakers from the West Virginia Senate and the House of Delegates along with other state stakeholders with the media focused to discuss their priorities in the upcoming legislative session.

West Virginia internet customers are being asked to take a broadband speed test to improve access in the state. “Data collected from the speed test will be instrumental in making decisions about broadband access in West Virginia moving forward,” state Department of Economic Development Secretary Mitch Carmichael said in a news release.

State officials are considering a new surcharge on many West Virginians’ electricity bills. It’s an effort to raise tens of millions of dollars to fund the expansion of high-speed internet into rural southern West Virginia, a region that has long been at the epicenter of the state’s broadband crisis.

Starting on May 12, eligible consumers will be able to sign up for temporary discounts on broadband services and on the purchase of laptops, desktop computers, and tablets through the Federal Communications Commission’s $3.2 billion Emergency Broadband Benefit program.

Legislators killed their own plan at the last minute. Now, consultants are being brought in to figure out how to spend more than $200 million.

On this West Virginia Morning, we bring you updates on the education and COVID-19 news. Then, a sit down with reporter Emily Allen all about the state's overcrowded jails and what lawmakers have proposed to fix the issue. Our final story comes from a recent episode of Us & Them when host Trey Kay visits Pocohantas County, a place that can hear Mars doesn't have reliable broadband.

In September, Governor Jim Justice promised to spend $50 million of the state’s federal coronavirus response fund to bring internet to underserved areas of West Virginia. Making that happen by the end-of-the-year deadline, however, proved much harder.

West Virginia’s biggest telecommunications company will get hundreds of millions more in federal money to serve the state, despite being under investigation for its chronic poor service and misuse of funds by the state’s utility regulator.

Every October, Gilbert -- population 475 -- swells with visitors as 5,000 people come for TrailFest, which markets itself as one the premier ATV events on…