Frontier sets line of communication about broadband with state school board

"We are committed to establishing a relationship with this board and the Department of Education," Dana Waldo, senior vice president and general manager of the state of West Virginia for Frontier Communications, told the state board Wednesday. "We want to be a partner because nothing is more important in this state than education, and to get there, we need to complete this project together."

Waldo said Frontier was assigning an individual specifically to the state Department of Education to answer education officials' questions about the status of the massive broadband project.

West Virginia received a $126.3 million federal grant in February 2010 that will lay down more than 900 miles of fiber-optic cable to provide high-speed Internet to more than 1,000 schools, libraries, health-care facilities, public agencies and fire stations across the state. It was the only state in the nation to receive federal funds to create a broadband network to span the state, and federal officials hope West Virginia can serve as a national model.

The state awarded Verizon Business Services, which is now operated by Frontier, a $40 million contract to lay fiber-optic cable at all the public facilities and provide access to global networks by February 2013. Frontier purchased Verizon's landline business in West Virginia last year, and the state is continuing its former contract using Frontier.

Last month, state board members expressed frustration about not knowing how many schools could actually connect to a high-speed network more than two years after the state received the federal funds.

As of Wednesday, 282 of the 463 schools slated to receive broadband access had both fiber-optic cables and routers in place to connect to the Internet. So far, Frontier has laid more than 280 miles of fiber-optic cable for public schools throughout the state, said Mark McKenzie, who oversees implementation of the federal funds for the broadband grant.

Jimmy Gianato, director of West Virginia Homeland Security and Emergency Management, said the Internet team is ahead of schedule.

"We're continuing to move on and make sure we've got all our bases covered with schools having access to fiber and [being] ready to go," said Gianato. "We have nine months left to get everything completed, and we're on track."

State Board of Education member Michael Green said he was thankful for Frontier's gesture to improve lines of communication.

"I think we all understand that we have a crisis in this country in terms of trying to educate our children and we can't do that unless we have the infrastructure in place," said Green. "This board is relying on Frontier to fulfill whatever needs to be done with telecommunications for this state. There are a lot of players in this game and making sure that there are lines of communication is very important. I think this is a big step in the right direction and it shows us that you are dedicated."