Capito Secures $18 Million Grant for Broadband In West Virginia

Jan. 28, 2025 – Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., has secured nearly $18 million in rural broadband funding for West Virginia, according to a Jan. 16 press release.

Capito, a prominent advocate for rural broadband development, said these funds will support high-speed broadband infrastructure projects in West Virginia’s Nicholas, Hampshire, and Hardy counties.

“This is another step in my goal of connecting every last West Virginian home, school, and business,” she said. “I look forward to seeing these projects completed.”

Backed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development ReConnect program, the funding allocates $12.4 million to the Nicholas County Commission, tasked with deploying a fiber-to-the-premises network to more than 6,000 residents and more than 100 businesses.

The remaining $5.5 million will go to Hardy Telecommunications, Inc., to develop a similar network covering more than 1,400 residents.

Capito, as a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, has long called for broadband expansion. In 2018, she helped craft the ReConnect program to address the challenges of broadband deployment in rural regions.

“I knew how critical closing the digital divide was to inspire economic growth in rural West Virginia and rural America,” she said regarding her time on the committee.