Section P of Item 115 of Chapter 2, 2021 Acts of Assembly, 2021 Special Session 1, commonly known as the Budget Bill, directs the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) to develop a statewide broadband availability map indicating broadband coverage, including maximum broadband speeds available in service territories in the Commonwealth. As directed in the Budget Bill, all broadband service providers shall be required to submit updated service territory data to the Department annually, containing the locations to which they provide broadband service. This portal will serve as the collection tool to gather coverage data from providers that will be used to generate the new Virginia Broadband Availability map.
Pursuant to budget bill language, DHCD will publish only anonymized versions of the map, showing locations served and unserved by broadband without reference to any specific provider. The map will not include information regarding ownership or control over the network or networks providing service. Information submitted by a broadband provider in connection with this section shall be excluded from the requirements of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (§ 2.2-3700 et seq.). Information submitted by a broadband provider will be used solely for the purposes stated in the Budget Bill and will not be released by the Department, or any other public records custodian, without the express written permission of the submitting broadband provider.
Commonwealth Connection was created by the Center for Geospatial Information Technology at Virginia Tech and DHCD and is annually updated by internet service providers through this portal.
