Arrington
Nelson County, Virginia
Firefly Fiber Broadband is launching in Central Virginia with high-speed internet offerings for Central Virginia Electric Cooperative’s (CVEC) residential and commercial accounts. Firefly Fiber Broadband will be the internet service provider (ISP) for Central Virginia Services Inc., CVEC’s wholly-owned subsidiary. Firefly Fiber Broadband will lease fiber which CVEC is installing to improve communications across its electric distribution system.
With the addition of a fiber network, CVEC will be able to better incorporate smart grid technology into its daily operations, improve integration of distributed energy resources, and help lower power costs through interactive energy management programs. By increasing bandwidth for communications within its system, CVEC will improve efficiency, increase reliability, and expand security. The Cooperative is planning to build a system wide fiber optic network that will eventually connect all distribution equipment on the CVEC grid. CVEC will own and operate its high-speed communication system and allow Firefly Fiber Broadband to lease the fiber and offer broadband internet service to CVEC members with residential or commercial accounts.
When asked about how the name for the ISP was created, CEO Gary Wood explained that “in the warm central Virginia evenings, the fireflies use the magic of their light to bring beauty to points all across the rural countryside. Firefly Fiber Broadband will use the magic of laser light beamed through fiber optic glass tubes to bring world class, high speed internet service to points all across the rural area. Our goal is to make Firefly Fiber Broadband as much a part of our rural lifestyle as the native fireflies.”
Firefly Fiber Broadband will offer high-speed internet with unlimited data at 100 megabits per second for $49.99 per month or 1 gigabit per second of unlimited data for $79.99 per month. Unlike many other internet services, the download and upload speeds will be the same on the Firefly network. Voice-over IP phone service (VoIP), with unlimited local and long-distance calling in continental U.S., will also be available as an add-on to either broadband service for $29.99 each month. Firefly internet service will be a managed WiFi service, allowing Firefly to assure the best performance for all wireless devices in a home. Subscriptions will be available by the end of 2018 to members served by the CVEC Appomattox substation.
As the schedule for construction is set, new substation areas to be served will be announced. All information that is available regarding schedule and subscription options for residential and small business is available on the newly launched Firefly Fiber Broadband website, www.fireflyva.com.
Firefly Fiber Broadband is currently hiring for several positions and plans to list additional job openings throughout the next year. Interested applicants should check the job postings on the CVEC website at www.mycvec.com/about-us/careers.
Central Virginia Electric Cooperative is a member-owned, not-for-profit, electric utility serving almost 37,000 homes, farms and businesses in the rural portions of 14 Virginia counties. CVEC is proud to be a Four-Star Cooperative for Service Excellence certified by the Touchstone Energy Service Excellence Program. For more information, visit www.mycvec.com.
