County poised to select internet partner

Attorney hired to advise county on contracts

The Rappahannock County Broadband Authority (RCBA) will decide tonight, July 29, which internet service provider to partner with in applying for state funding to expand broadband infrastructure across the county.

Formed in January to address the county’s broadband challenges, the RCBA — made up of the county’s ve supervisors — is pursuing state and federal grants to help cover the costs of new telecommunications infrastructure. In order to apply for most funding, the county must partner with a commercial internet service provider and submit a viable project plan.

The authority did not reach a decision at its regular meeting last week and called a special meeting this week to discuss their options with legal counsel before signing a contract. The authority voted last Thursday to make Sharon Pandak, a partner at a Fairfax law rm specializing in public procurement and contract negotiations, the RCBA legal counsel.

Three local internet service providers sent proposals to the RCBA expressing interest in a partnership earlier this month: Shentel, All Points Broadband and MJI. However, MJI said it will not be able to carry out their proposal in the timeframe of the Virginia Telecommunications Initiative (VATI) grant. The deadline to apply for a VATI grant is Sept. 14 to receive money in 2022.

The authority sent Pandak the proposals and a list of questions to discuss at the Thursday night meeting.

Authority members agreed that language in the proposal from All Points Broadband was unclear, and that speaking with legal counsel as an authority would be necessary in making a decision. Some of the authority members were concerned that they didn’t have a strong idea what exactly All Points was proposing or how much it would cost.

Jimmy Carr, CEO of All Points Broadband, answered questions from the authority last week, with a point of concern being the company’s lack of detail in the proposal. Carr said that they will not be able to come up with an estimate for how much the proposal will cost until they develop a more detailed plan.

“As the County’s dedicated broadband partner, All Points will (i) comprehensively identify currently unserved areas, (ii) work with middle-mile partners like [Rappahannock Electric Cooperative] to design a ber-to-the-home network to serve these locations, (iii) apply for available grants and public support mechanisms for deployments in the County on a rolling basis and to the extent required, and (iv)

build, operate and maintain an updated broadband infrastructure for the County,” the company wrote in their proposal.

Carr told the authority last week that Akre Capital Management will no longer have any stakeholder value in All Points Broadband and that Searchlight Capital Partners, a private investment rm, is becoming their main equity sponsor.

“As part of that process, Akre Capital Management will no longer have any interest, direct or indirect, in All Points Broadband,” Carr said, adding that Akre Capital Management will be divesting 100 percent of their interest in All Points Broadband.

All Points Broadband is proposing bringing ber-to-the-home across the county in partnership with local municipalities and partners, like the Rappahannock Electric Cooperative. Their proposal also states that the authority would not be able to enter into another agreement that could be competitive with All Points.

Board member Ron Frazier was insistent last week that the board confer with legal counsel to get a de nition of what the language means in the proposals, like the exclusivity language and the de nition of “county.”

“I just wonder why in the world would somebody like the county broadband authority agree to something like that when we don’t even know what the initiative is,” Frazier said. “We’re basically signing a check and giving it to someone. We wouldn’t do that with our own money.”

Dan Meenan, vice president of wireless network development at Shentel, spoke on behalf of the company last week. A point of concern among the authority was that Shentel proposes only to cover 895 homes in southeast Rappahannock County, which they already plan to serve with xed wireless through a grant from the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund. The new proposal would bring ber to the home in this area.

Shentel’s proposal would require 100 miles of ber and would cost about $6.3 million.

“We're basing the proposal on what we know best right now,” said Meenan, adding that the proposal could eventually extend to more homes at a later date.

The RCBA will meet Thursday, July 29, at the Rappahannock County Courthouse at 6 p.m. to further discuss the proposals with legal counsel in an e ort to reach a decision.