Citizens is a regional full service communications provider offering land-line telephone, VoIP, IPTV Video, web
and e-mail hosting, DSL, and FTTP (Fiber to the Premise: Business Ethernet and FTTH, Fiber to the Home), serving 7
counties in Southwest Virginia.
In addition, Citizens operates a 248 mile regional open access fiber network in 6 Virginia counties including 8
industrial parks. Along this network, Citizens provides wholesale transport and Internet bandwidth to a variety of
service providers. Citizens is partnering with other open access networks in Virginia like Mid Atlantic Broadband Cooperative
(MBC) and Bristol Virginia Utilities (BVU) to provide high-capacity optical transport services that are necessary
to assist in the economic revitalization efforts of Southwest and Southside Virginia.
In 2010, Citizens in partnership with the New River Valley Network
Wireless Authority (NRVNWA) obtained a federal broadband
grant from NTIA (National Telecommunications and Information
Administration) to build an 186 mile middle mile open access
network through 7 counties. This project will pass several industrial
parks and over 60 Community Anchor Institutions (CAIs) including
over 30 K-12 schools. This expansion will tie into Citizens existing
open access fiber network in three locations as well as provide critical
diverse connections to Mid Atlantic Broadband Cooperative (MBC)
and Bristol Virginia Utilities (BVU). This project is scheduled to
break ground this summer and will leverage $396,622 of VTC funds
for a project costing $11,560,803. For more information on this
project please visit the BTOP section of our website.
Citizens has received three grants from the Virginia Tobacco Commission (VTC) for a total of $5,959,122. These funds have been
leveraged with other funding and assets, including $6,498,471 from
Citizens, to build out a 200Gbps, 434 mile open access fiber network
totaling $22,525,353.
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