ReConnect Broadband Project expands gigabit internet into Wetzel County

NEW MARTINSVILLE, W.Va. (WTRF) — As internet speeds accelerate into the future, Wetzel County is making sure its homes are moving right alongside them—bit by bit.

A brand new broadband network was dedicated with a ‘fiber cutting’ at the 4-H Grounds.

More than 1,900 households now have access to high-speed internet from provider CityNet, after a grant from the USDA ReConnect program and funds from the county commission.

Speakers told the crowd that internet is no longer just a luxury, and everyone wants to do more online than just check their email.

“Think about the apps on your phone. Go and try to update your phone on a slow broadband connection, it just doesn’t work. So what this does is we essentially brought in massive pipeline into each of these residential houses.”

Jim Martin, President and CEO, CityNet

“There’s the funding part. There’s a match part. There’s the environmental. There’s are you on private land or on public land. It’s not quite as simple as just running wire.”

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, (R) West Virginia

The new service covers 48 square miles and will reach all the way to Hundred, West Virginia.

Sen. Capito says the Department of Commerce is working on reaching the 110,000 homes still unserved in the Mountain State.

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