One of Virginia’s most delayed rural broadband projects got a new owner this month. On 5-Aug-2026 the West Piedmont Planning District Commission announced it has contracted ZiTEL, a Moneta-based internet provider, to complete the West Broadband Project across Franklin, Henry and Patrick counties.
What went wrong, and what changes now
The project was originally contracted to RiverStreet Networks to reach 14,547 locations. After years of delays, RiverStreet had completed only about 40 connections — 29 in Franklin County, 11 in Henry County and none in Patrick County — before the partnership was terminated in coordination with the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development and the three counties. ZiTEL, which already serves customers in Danville and in Bedford and Franklin counties, takes over the remaining scope: roughly 14,161 fiber connections in unserved areas, targeted for completion by the end of 2027.
Announcing the agreement, WPPDC Executive Director Michael Armbrister said that “with ZiTEL, we are poised to fulfill our mission of expanding broadband access across the region.”
The statewide picture
The handoff comes as Virginia works through its largest-ever broadband push. In Nov-2025 federal regulators approved $545 million in BEAD funding — matched by roughly $430 million in private investment across 23 providers — to reach about 133,000 remaining unserved addresses, with projects beginning in fall 2026.
What this means if you live in Virginia
If you are in Franklin, Henry or Patrick County and were promised fiber that never came, this is the most concrete progress the project has shown — but it is a construction restart, not a service launch. End of 2027 is the target for the full build, and addresses will come online in stages before then. In the meantime, the realistic options in much of the region remain DSL where it reaches, T-Mobile home internet where tower capacity allows, and satellite service from Starlink or HughesNet in the harder-to-reach hollows.
Sources
- Cardinal News — “Internet provider ZiTel approved to finish broadband deployment work in Patrick, Franklin, Henry counties” (5-Aug-2026)
- West Piedmont Planning District Commission — “WPPDC Contracted with ZiTEL to Complete West Broadband Project” (5-Aug-2026)
- Virginia Business — “Feds approve $545M for Virginia broadband expansion” (19-Nov-2025)