The state Office of Telework Promotion and Broadband Assistance has published a map showing broadband penetration in Virginia. There is a broadband “gap,” as one would expect. But I would argue that it’s nothing to worry about — a gap exists only because the bar for what constitutes cutting-edge broadband service is always getting raised.
Personal cell phone coverage blankets nearly the entire state. Even the most lightly populated counties in the the Old Dominion have pockets of cell phone coverage. Broadband wireline is a little patchier but nearly every community of any size is connected. The gap today is between those who have access to “advanced” wireless mobile broadband and those who don’t. That service is still limited, for the most part, to the state’s largest metro areas. (Click on map for more legible image.)
But never fear. If the past is prologue, the telecom companies will first penetrate the densest most populated markets because that’s where the biggest revenue gains and profit margins are. Then they will move into smaller communities. To ask them to do otherwise would be foolhardy. It’s the cash generated by the early investments that make possible to make the later investments. Living in the countryside has its advantages and disadvantages. You get to see the stars at night. But, then, you have to wait for access to the latest broadband technology.
