QUINCY, Mass., February 15, 2023 – Breezeline, the nation’s eighth-largest cable
operator, today announced that construction has been completed on a $7.2 million, 150-
mile fiber-broadband network that will serve more than 1,400 homes and businesses in
Mathews, Caroline, Lancaster and Middlesex counties.
The project has been funded through a $4.2 million Virginia Telecommunication
Initiative (VATI) grant administered by the Department of Housing and Community
Development (DHCD). Breezeline contributed $1.5 million towards the project, with the
remaining $1.5 million supported by the counties. The first homes were activated
through the initiative in May 2022.
“We are excited to have completed the construction of this state-of-the-art fiberbroadband network to serve the homes and businesses of these four counties,” said
William T. Newborg, Director of Grants and Funding for Breezeline. “We are grateful to
the Breezeline engineers, technicians, and contractors, as well as our dedicated
community partners who have made it possible to successfully complete the project.”
With the construction phase now complete, the communities will have access to
reliable, superfast internet for distance learning, work-from-home, telehealth, gaming
and more. Breezeline representatives will be visiting homes in the project areas to
discuss service offerings. Door hangers also will be left with contact information for
those wishing to activate Breezeline services.
The initiative is one of multiple private-public broadband partnerships that Breezeline
has pursued to expand the reach of broadband across its service areas. With support
from the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic
Security Act (also known as the CARES Act), and other partnerships, Breezeline has
completed additional expansion projects in Middlesex, Caroline and King George
counties in Virginia, St. Mary’s and Queen Anne’s counties in Maryland, and in
Wolfeboro, New Hampshire.
