ESVBA announces residential service to over 2k local households on Virginia’s Eastern Shore
…and just doubled all residential customer speeds (for free!)
Exmore, Virginia, Jan. 25, 2022 – Just under five years after announcing their first residential pilot serving just six houses in Harborton, the Eastern Shore of Virginia Broadband Authority has just crossed an important milestone. They now serve more than 2,000 local homes and offer fiber connections across more than 50% of the region’s land area.
“Our mission is, and has always been, to ensure Virginia’s Eastern Shore can benefit from the economic promise that comes with reliable, high-speed connectivity,” Executive Director Robert Bridgham said. “When other providers said it couldn’t be done, our team set to work to prove them wrong. As we cross this significant service coverage milestone and celebrate the recent generous Virginia Telecommunications Initiative (VATI) grant announcements, I am truly hopeful that a full build out of Virginia’s Eastern Shore, one that allows fiber service to every home, is finally in sight.”
This milestone announcement also comes on the heels of several recent service upgrades for residential customers. During the early days of the pandemic, ESVBA temporarily doubled the speed of all residential customers to help with the dramatically increased need for video conferencing, remote work, and remote educational capacity and connectivity for local citizens. On Oct. 28, 2021, the ESVBA Board of Directors voted to make these temporary speed increases permanent and chose not to implement any corresponding price increase.
“Hybrid work, education and even telehealth options are now the new normal for many of our citizens, and I’m incredibly pleased that ESVBA has been able to respond to the moment and help support the community in this important and timely new way,” Bridgham said. “Being able to respond quickly to evolving community needs and, you know, just doing whatever it takes to get the job done is one of the best things about having a career working in community broadband. These kinds of things make it easy to feel good about what our organization does day in and day out.”
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About the Eastern Shore of Virginia Broadband Authority
The Eastern Shore of Virginia Broadband Authority (ESVBA) is a public authority formed in 2008 by Accomack and Northampton counties to provide and proliferate broadband services across the Eastern Shore of Virginia. ESVBA runs an all-fiber certified, open-access broadband network that serves commercial, residential, government, education, healthcare, and wholesale customers across the region. ESVBA offers dedicated internet, SONET, ELAN, ELINE, and WISP services. For more information, please visit https://esvba.com.
How fast should my speed be on the residential plan of 59.99 per month?
Our $59.99 service is symmetric 50Mbps / 50Mbps service and you will solidly receive 50Mbps.
John, your $59.99 service should provide 50/50 symmetric service. If you are not experiencing that speed our support staff can help troubleshoot and resolve any issues.
Using Ookla, my download speed is 44.88 and 24.92 upload . Those speeds are taken at the router/modem site. Should the readings not be 50/50?
If you are subscribed at 50/50 then your speedtest should report near 50/50. Typically we see this behavior with certain wifi issues and can help. Please contact support@esvba.com and we can help troubleshoot.