ZiTel to Take Over Troubled Virginia Broadband Projects
After RiverStreet’s removal, the provider faces an ambitious deployment timeline.
WASHINGTON, August 10, 2026 – ZiTel will take over a troubled Virginia broadband project, inheriting 14,547 potential customer locations and a construction schedule that leaves the provider less than a year to meet its first major deadline.
The provider has been approved to take over RiverStreet Network’s unfinished broadband deployment in Franklin, Henry and Patrick counties. The Virginia broadband office determined in July that RiverStreet was incapable of completing its deployment work after, and subsequently removed RiverStreet from the project as federal deadlines for spending the underlying pandemic-era broadband funds were fast-approaching.
ZiTel now plans to begin construction within about a month. Rodney Gray, the company’s chief operating officer, said ZiTel expects eventually to have about 10 crews working simultaneously across the three counties.
“This is a very daunting task,” Gray said, while expressing confidence that ZiTel can complete the work within the revised deadlines.
The project is backed by the Capital Projects Fund, created through the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act, which carries a federal expenditure deadline.
Virginia has obtained extensions for the project, giving ZiTel until June 30, 2027, to complete the 2022 portion of the work and until Dec. 31, 2027, for the 2023 portion.
The company’s approach will differ from RiverStreet’s in an important respect. ZiTel says it performs most of its construction with its own employees and equipment rather than relying heavily on outside contractors.
ZiTel, based in Moneta, Virginia, was founded in 2017, and has built its business around grant-funded broadband deployments in rural Virginia.
The company has already completed a major VATI project in nearby Bedford County. The 2022 project received an $8.5 million VATI award, while Bedford County committed $5.5 million in ARPA funds as its local match. The county says the ZiTel project was substantially complete by July 2025, covering 5,650 addresses.
ZiTel’s takeover is part of a broader effort by Virginia to salvage broadband projects after RiverStreet Networks was removed from multiple state-subsidized deployments, impacting more than 30,000 rural customers, following years of delays and financing problems.
As of June, RiverStreet had delivered only 40 connections out of 14,547 potential locations in Franklin, Henry and Patrick counties.
Appalachian Power has already completed substantial portions of the middle-mile infrastructure for the Franklin, Henry and Patrick County project, including utility-pole work and fiber deployment.
Now, the question is whether ZiTel can move quickly enough to turn a project that had become a major liability for the state into a completed network. For residents who have waited years for service, the provider change offers a fresh start.
