Fiber

Railroad Crossing Killing Rural Broadband Deployment, Says Virginia Telecom Official

Virginia Supreme Court ruled that private, for-profit providers may not use advantageous broadband law, that would constitute a takings

Drew Clark

Drew Clark

— 3 min read
Railroad Crossing Killing Rural Broadband Deployment, Says Virginia Telecom Official
Photo of (left to right) Chris Pedersen, Carl Guardino, Brian Newby, and Ray LaMura at Broadband Nation on Monday

ORLANDO, Fla., Nov. 17, 2025 — "Railroads have become one of the biggest barriers to broadband deployment in Virginia," a Virginia broadband lobbyist said at a panel at the Broadband Nation Expo here on Monday.

"They charge excessive fees—hundreds of thousands of dollars—just to cross their right-of-way or run fiber alongside tracks," said the official, Ray LaMura, president of the Broadband Association of Virginia. "We had one member who wanted to run fiber along a railway to reach 60 new homes. The railroad quoted $600,000. That wiped out the entire grant budget. The project died."

The panel, moderated by Chris Pedersen, executive vice president of development and planning at Connected Nation, also explored tensions between fiber deployment and alternative technologies, including wireless and satellite.

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Fiber Association of American Railroads permitting Broadband Nation Virginia CHris Pedersen Carl Guardino Brian Newby Ray LaMura Takings

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