Gloucester seeks help to boost broadband access

With Virginia students doing schoolwork at home, and hordes of adults trying to work from home, Gloucester County is putting out a call to businesses to open access to their Wi-Fi connections to county residents.

The county itself is offering free, if limited, Wi-Fi access in the parking lots of the main library and its Point branch in Hayes. People can also tap the county’s broadband service through Wi-Fi on Main Street around the court circle.

Roughly 15% of county residents don’t have reliable broadband access.

“There are many out there who would like to be able to complete homework assignments, check their emails or connect virtually with family members,” said Assistant County Administrator Carol Steele.

She’s hoping that county businesses with strong Wi-Fi signals will agree to let county residents park in their parking lots to tap the signals and go online. But she’s asking county residents to leave the job of asking businesses about access to county officials.

The lack of broadband service is a major headache for rural Virginians at the best of times, and state officials regularly promise to step up efforts to expand networks.

Gov. Ralph Northam’s budget proposed boosting Virginia’s spending on expanding broadband to $35 million year, but that was before the coronavirus hit and sent state officials scrambling to find savings.

The Mathews County Library says people can tap into its Wi-Fi from its parking lot, and from parking spots near the library building on Main Street. People can also tap in from the library courtyard.

The Williamsburg Regional Library is offering mobile internet for two hours at a time at various spots around the area, as well as some long-term hotspots, accessible 24 hours a day at Home

Cooking (8953 Pocahontas Trail), Powhatan Apartments (226 Burton Woods Drive), Burnt Ordinary (7901 Sterling Drive, Toano) and Merrimac Crossing (159 Merrimac Trail).

Blackwater Regional Library offers 24-hour a day Wi-Fi outside its branches in Isle of Wight, Surry, Sussex and Southampton counties, as well as Smithfield and Franklin.