That revelation came Tuesday during a meeting of the Henry County Board of Supervisors, where county leaders and representatives from RiverStreet Networks provided another progress update on the long-delayed effort to expand high-speed fiber internet service into underserved portions of the county.
The update highlighted the enormous scale of the project but also underscored the mounting frustration among county officials and residents who expected service to already be available in many rural communities.
County Administrator Dale Wagoner acknowledged those frustrations directly during the meeting.
“It’s certainly been very frustrating to make a promise to deploy this year or so ago, and actually been talking about almost five years now,” Wagoner said. “Residents want it. It’s still demanded.”
The broadband expansion effort is part of a larger regional initiative involving Henry County, neighboring localities, RiverStreet Networks, and Appalachian Power Co. The project is funded through a combination of state and federal broadband grants designed to expand internet access in rural and underserved areas where private providers have historically not built infrastructure due to high costs and lower population density.
Henry County officials first announced major broadband expansion plans several years ago after securing funding through the Virginia Telecommunications Initiative, commonly known as VATI. County officials have repeatedly described broadband access as critical infrastructure needed for economic development, education, telehealth, and remote work opportunities.
The project has taken on even greater importance since the COVID-19 pandemic exposed gaps in internet access across rural Virginia, particularly for students and residents working from home.
During Tuesday’s presentation, RiverStreet representatives said the Henry County portion of the project now includes approximately 2,000 locations. Officials said the scope of the project expanded significantly after additional locations were incorporated through the federal Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment, or BEAD, program.
Representatives said that expansion created major financial and engineering complications that forced redesigns and delayed portions of the buildout.
“When you add BEAD into this, and you look at it just as Henry County, but you look at it as the West project and the rest of the project we’re doing in the state of Virginia, it almost doubled the overall locations,” a RiverStreet representative told supervisors. “It did make it a little more tricky for us when it comes to making sure all the finances and everything were buttoned up.”
The company said engineering work has continued while financial details and contracts are finalized at the state and federal levels.
RiverStreet officials said portions of the county, including Laurel Park and Mountain Valley Road, remain priorities for completion. The company is targeting the fourth quarter of 2026 for substantial completion in several areas, though representatives acknowledged that the timeline will be difficult to achieve.
“I think it’s an ambitious goal,” a RiverStreet representative said. “There’s a lot of ground to cover through that.”
A major portion of the work has involved coordination with Appalachian Power, which has been constructing sections of the primary fiber infrastructure.
Officials said Appalachian Power has completed much of the main line construction, with about 72 remaining “tails” still needing installation in portions of the county. Those “tails” are the connections that allow service to extend from the main fiber lines toward homes and neighborhoods.
RiverStreet officials said much of the company’s work involves underground construction branching from Appalachian Power’s aerial fiber infrastructure. ApCo is a subsidiary of America Electric Power, or AEP.
“We have accepted the field build and Spencer tests from AEP,” one representative said while discussing project progress.
Despite the work completed behind the scenes, supervisors pressed RiverStreet representatives on the lack of customers actually receiving service.
Supervisor Debra Buchanan noted that county residents frequently ask supervisors when broadband service will finally become available.
“People thought they would have had it before now,” Buchanan said. “It’s hard for us to explain to them why it has not.”
When asked directly how many residents currently have service through the project, RiverStreet representatives said only 26 customers have been connected so far.
“There are a few,” a representative said. “There aren’t many.”
Company officials said they do not intend to wait until the entire project is completed before activating service. Instead, they plan to begin connecting residents in smaller sections as construction is finished.
“One thing we’ll do is we won’t wait till everybody’s ready to go to hook it up,” a RiverStreet representative said. “We’ll get them lit as quickly as we possibly can.”
Officials encouraged residents to visit RiverStreet’s website and enter their addresses to receive projected availability dates and service notifications.
The broadband discussion dominated much of the meeting. It reflected continuing concerns among local officials about balancing public expectations with the realities of one of the largest infrastructure projects currently underway in rural Southside Virginia.
The Board of Supervisors also approved several additional items on Tuesday, including a resolution supporting an $850,000 Economic Development Administration grant application for the extension of Beaver Creek Drive in Patriot Centre.
Engineering and Mapping Director Tim Pace said the road extension would improve traffic flow and provide access to four additional industrial development lots.
Pace said the county has already secured approximately $4.3 million for the project through congressional discretionary funding, tobacco commission funding, and ARC Access funding.
“We just sold the shell building, so we’re running out of space in the Patriot Centre to develop,” Pace said.
Supervisors also approved several appropriations and transfers, including funding tied to the Summer Food Service Program for Henry County Public Schools, Recovery Court grant funding for Piedmont Community Services, bonuses for school nutrition employees, and a one-time 2% bonus for county employees not covered under state constitutional officer compensation actions.
The board additionally approved roughly $760,000 in current-year capital improvement spending for projects including roof repairs, asphalt work, server replacements, trail repairs, and voting equipment storage upgrades.
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