Construction begins on fiber-optic cables across Bay

Construction crews began stringing fiber-optic cables along the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel this week to bring top Internet speeds to the Eastern Shore.

The Eastern Shore of Virginia Broadband Authority, a quasi-government agency created by state law last year, hopes to develop the infrastructure that telecommunications companies deemed too expensive for the number of customers available in the rural communities of Accomack and Northampton counties.

By shouldering the $6.3 million cost of that fiber-optic "backbone," with the help of state and federal funding, the authority hopes to persuade telecom providers to build the "last mile" of wire to homes and businesses and offer bundled Internet, phone and video services. Those companies would pay the authority for use of its fiber-optic system.

So far, none have committed. The broadband authority has had discussions with Cox Communications Inc., the primary cable provider in Hampton Roads, and with some other companies, said Cheryl Tyson, manager of the project.

The authority has a "gentleman's agreement" to connect its backbone to Cox's system in Virginia Beach, Tyson said. Cox officials declined to confirm their discussions about broadband service on the Eastern Shore.

Eastern Shore residents do have Internet access now. Charter Communications Inc., the cable company based in St. Louis, provides TV, phone and online service to at least some parts of the region.

The extent of Charter's fiber system and the areas it serves are unclear, Tyson said. "We don't have any indication that they have a robust network here," she said.

Charter officials did not answer questions Tuesday about Eastern Shore service. The company, which also is the cable company for Suffolk and some of the Outer Banks, is reported to be close to filing for bankruptcy.

Verizon Communications Inc., the Eastern Shore's dominant phone carrier, sells Internet service through digital subscriber lines. Such DSL connections, using its copper-wire phone network, allow for download speeds of up to 3 megabits per second and upload speeds of up to 768 kilobits per second.

Verizon's fiber-optic network, by comparison, can download up to 50 megabits per second. Verizon is building that network, known as Fios, in areas across the nation and in Hampton Roads. It has no plans to bring Fios to the Eastern Shore, said Harry Mitchell, a Verizon spokesman.

"It becomes more expensive to deploy in far-reaching, sparsely populated areas," Mitchell wrote in an e-mail. "We must realize some return on our investment, and that becomes more difficult in some of the more rural areas."

DSL service doesn't provide the data capacity or speeds needed by growing commercial development on the Eastern Shore, including a new research park on Wallops Island, Tyson said.

"We're getting a very high-end user technically that needs to send a lot of data at one time," she said. "It's totally an economic development thing."

Carolyn Shapiro, (757) 446-2270, carolyn.shapiro@pilotonline.com