Hardy Telecommunications was recognized as a ‘Champion of Connectivity’ at the recent West Virginia Broadband Summit in Charleston, W.Va.
Hardy Assistant General Manager Derek Barr accepted the award from representatives of the West Virginia Office of Broadband, including Director Kelly Workman, Program Manager Jamie Hoffman, and Office Administrator Sabrina Stollings. West Virginia Secretary of Economic Development Mitch Carmichael announced the presentation, which came in front of hundreds of attendees at the Summit.
“The Office of Broadband is proud to support HardyNet in its efforts to expand broadband connectivity in rural Hardy County,” Ms. Workman said. “We know that HardyNet is committed to providing reliable and affordable broadband services to its customers, and we look forward to working with the HardyNet team on future projects.”
Derek said the recognition was not revealed beforehand, so the announcement came as a surprise to Hardy Telecommunications representatives in attendance.
“We’re honored to receive this recognition from the West Virginia Office of Broadband,” he said. “We share the same goal of expanding broadband in our wonderful state and ensuring that residents are able to take advantage of today’s digital opportunities, whether it’s virtual education, telehealth, commerce, or simply streaming entertainment. West Virginians deserve the same level of service as people in urban areas.”
The certificate specifically was awarded in recognition of Hardy’s participation in the state’s Line Extension Advancement and Development (LEAD) broadband funding program with its Eastern Hardy County broadband extension project. Hardy is one of a few companies that already has advanced to the construction phase on a LEAD project. In fact, Hardy has completed construction on its Eastern Hardy County LEAD project and has installed service to several customers.
The Eastern Hardy County LEAD project was designed to extend Hardy’s OneNet fiber-to-the-home network to locations beyond its current reach in Hardy County. Hardy contributed about $65,000 to the $248,000 project, which has brought service to more than 60 additional locations all throughout Hardy County.
Hardy Telecommunications has another LEAD project in development, the South Mill Creek project in Grant County. That $557,000 project has not yet moved to construction. Once completed, it will extend broadband service to about 117 addresses along South Mill Creek Road.
The West Virginia Broadband Summit brought together government officials, Internet service providers, industry leaders and vendors, and other state stakeholders in the expansion of broadband to discuss upcoming federal funding programs to expand broadband in West Virginia. The bulk of the conference focused on the federal Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment Program, which will offer more than $42 billion across the country for broadband projects. West Virginia is slated to receive more than $1.2 billion from the BEAD program.