Virginia is working on getting people internet access, but that plan doesn’t include affordability

About 600,000 Virginians, mostly in Southwest, Southside and the Tidewater areas, lack access to broadband. Even where some theoretically have access to it, they can’t afford it. And Virginia doesn’t currently have a plan to address affordability. “The affordability problem remains out there, and it’s significant,” Evan Feinman, the governor’s chief broadband adviser, told the Virginia Broadband Advisory Council. “It is something we’re going to need to address if we’re going to truly claim to have addressed the digital divide.” Virginia has mainly focused on laying the infrastructure necessary to connect homes and businesses to broadband.