Facebook is working with service provider GigaBeam Networks and utility company Appalachian Power to bring broadband to thousands of people in an area of Virginia where nearly 60% of residents lack access.
The tech giant said in a blog the project in Grayson County is utilizing a combination of assets from all three companies, with Facebook contributing access to its aforementioned long-haul fiber network for backhaul, Appalachian Power building middle-mile fiber along its electrical grid and GigaBeam covering drops to the home with either fiber or fixed wireless access (FWA). Once complete, it will deliver service to some 6,000 residents there.
