History

In 2004, Mid-Atlantic Broadband Cooperative (MBC) was formed to solve the rural telecommunications infrastructure challenge. MBC was tasked to design, build, operate, manage, and maintain a state of the art, carrier-class fiber optic network that enabled retail private sector telecommunications providers to serve the region. This task would help reduce the cost of broadband services by leveling the playing field, expand the reach of broadband in more rural communities, and create a competitive economic advantage for Southern Virginia. 

With the strong support of the Virginia Tobacco Commission (VTC) and the US Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration (EDA), MBC received $12 million in capital grants to build the first phase of the open-access fiber network in early 2004. Additional capital grants of $24 million were awarded by the VTC in 2005 and 2006 to finish the first phase of the network. 

By September 2006, the first phase was completed. MBC successfully built more than 600 route miles of new fiber connecting 20 counties and 4 cities to the network, built to industrial and technology business parks in the region, and acquired dark fiber IRUs between Atlanta, Georgia and Washington DC/Northern Virginia to connect the regional fiber network in Southern Virginia to strategic carrier interconnection and peering points in Tier 1 markets. 

When the network was officially “lit” and the contractor turned over the network to MBC, Peoples Mutual Telephone Company in Gretna, Virginia (a Fairpoint Communications Company) was the first customer on the network. MBC provided a diverse Layer 1 transport circuit for connecting to their upstream IP transit provider. 

Over the next few years, MBC enjoyed rapid growth in top-line revenue, employees, network reach, and most importantly helped in attracting new jobs and investments to the region. One of the key drivers of the MBC business model was to operate in a financially sustainable manner. Grants were used to pay for capital expenses, and revenue from customers (private sector telecom providers) paid for operating expenses and maintaining the network. The MBC business plan called for cash-flow break even (operating revenue exceeding operating expenses) by June of 2008. Thanks to the early embrace of the private sector telecom providers who now had a robust, open-access network to use in Southern Virginia, the company experienced cash-flow break even in December of 2007 and never looked back. 

In 2012, MBC took another important step forward in continued growth as an organization. The membership of the Mid-Atlantic Broadband Cooperative voted in July of 2012 to amend the Articles of Incorporation to transition from a 501(c)(12) cooperative to a 501(c)(4) non-profit corporation. Although MBC’s business model, pricing structure, and customer focus did not change, this social welfare not-for-profit designation was necessary to carry on the MBC mission of bridging the digital divide, promoting economic development, reducing the burden of Government, and helping to revitalize rural communities. On July 23, 2012, the company became known officially as Mid-Atlantic Broadband Communities Corporation. 

With the December 2020 completion of the SOVA Innovation Hub in downtown South Boston, VA, MBC moved to its new corporate home on the second floor of the new building in January 2021. 

On January 30, 2024, MBC celebrated 20 years of providing robust fiber connections to Southern Virginia for the advancement of the region. MBC currently employs 30 individuals. 

Growing and Upgrading the MBC Network 

In 2010, MBC was awarded $32 million for three projects from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Broadband Stimulus Program, through the NTIA/BTOP program. $16 million was for a project to connect all K-12 schools in southern Virginia that did not already have a fiber connection. The second project was a $10 million grant to extend MBC’s open-access fiber-optic network through rural southeastern Virginia connecting community anchor institutions and telecom providers to the network. The third project was in partnership with the Virginia Tech Foundation for $6 million that built a new fiber route from Blacksburg, Virginia to Bedford, Virginia. Thanks to MBC’s highly capable in-house project management team and contractors, those projects were completed on-time and under budget. These grant builds were completed in 2013 and added 700 miles of fiber to the MBC network. 

In 2015, the Infinera DTN-X packet optical transport networking platform was deployed on the MBC network, which enabled MBC to offer terabit connection for the first time. The Mid-Atlantic Research Infrastructure Alliance (MARIA), a non-profit corporation that brings together the major research universities in Virginia to build a cyberinfrastructure, partnered with MBC and co-invested in this upgrade to support their 100 Gbps connections to Internet2 and their collaboration with other Research & Development institutions. 

Virginia Beach was announced in May 2016 as the location for the first transoceanic fiber cable landing station in the Mid-Atlantic United States to support MAREA, a partnership among Microsoft, Facebook, and Telefónica. MBC partnered with the City of Virginia Beach to build a robust conduit infrastructure system to support the cable landing station. The project was completed in 2017, and the first subsea cable was turned up in Virginia Beach in mid-2018. 

In 2017, a new Infinera chassis was installed in a Richmond area POP to allow MBC to provide new services in Southern Virginia, provide an additional hand off for long haul services, and reduce latency. Additionally, a third Infinera route to Ashburn was completed to provide MBC additional long-haul capacity into Northern Virginia. 

In 2018, MBC made a major capital investment to expand coverage of its Next Generation High Capacity Transport Network. With the growth of high-capacity transport requirements in the region and the insatiable bandwidth demands from customers, MBC invested in the latest optical network technology from Infinera (Flex-ILS system). This upgrade allowed MBC to expand the line system capacity from 400 Gigabits per Second to 1.2 Terabits per second, a 300% increase in capacity. The total capacity can grow to 9.6 Terabits per second on a single pair of fiber, which provides MBC a great deal of flexibility to grow high speed connections to Northern Virginia, the Subsea Cable systems in Virginia Beach, and throughout the Southern Virginia region. Upgrading the MBC network allowed MBC to establish and retain relationships with technology companies that need high-capacity optical transport in the Southern Virginia region. 

MBC and QTS announced in June 2020 the successful implementation of an initial field trial that demonstrated 200 gigabits per second coherent transmission over a 50 gigahertz (GHz) channel on an existing MBC long-haul route. The new capacity uses MBC’s latest line system technology, providing multiple 200G alien wavelength transmission. MBC’s open-access network approach allowed a different optical vendor to utilize MBC’s existing line system, thus maximizing options and providing more granular control for native and alien waves. The field trial showcased MBC’s ability to easily and cost-effectively scale its current wholesale optical transport network to meet growing capacity demands and route diversity requirements at the QTS Richmond NAP for carriers and internet service providers in southern Virginia as well as subsea fiber optic cable routes that land in Virginia Beach and interconnect at the QTS Richmond NAP. 

In January 2021, MBC completed a major fiber infrastructure build from their node in Prince George to the QTS Richmond NAP. This 27-mile route created an MBC owned fiber route of 432 strand fiber and connected into the QTS Richmond NAP using a diverse 3rd entrance on the southern entrance of the campus. This new MBC route provides wholesale 10G, 100G, and alien wave services, as well as dark fiber, to meet the growing demands and fiber route diversity needs of customers. 

An $800,000 EDA grant was approved in March 2021 to begin the engineering, design and permitting of 206 miles of open-access middle-mile fiber routes in Southern and Central Virginia that will increase broadband capacity and boost the region’s ability to withstand future economic disruptions. 

In September 2023, MBC was awarded $16.4 million from NTIA to construct 130 miles of fiber spanning across 12 localities in Southern Virginia. 

As of 2024, the MBC network footprint spans 41 counties and cities in Southern Virginia with 2,500 route miles of fiber stretching across the region. 

LIT Networks 

One of MBC’s key growth initiatives is to expand network reach through strategic partnerships with other local/regional fiber optic network operators. MBC formed LIT Networks (Local to International Transport) in 2014 to enable other fiber network providers to interconnect with MBC’s extensive network and become a part of a larger network that incorporates revenue sharing as a business model. This model has proven highly successful for several years and is growing to accommodate other network providers. For more information on LIT Networks, visit https://www.litnetworks.com/.  

MBC continues to look for ways to accelerate our mission of reinvesting in our communities through projects that have a social, technology, and/or educational impact in Southern Virginia. 

Community Programs and Organizations 

From 2012 to 2015, MBC supported all YMCA, Boys and Girls Clubs, Head Start Programs in Southern Virginia with monetary donations totaling over $100,000.  

Scholarships 

From 2012 to 2014, MBC awarded five scholarships each year to high school seniors in Southern Virginia who were furthering their education in a STEM field at a Virginia college or university. 

In 2015, MBC established a scholarship at each of the community colleges in Southern Virginia for the colleges to distribute as they see would best benefit students studying in STEM-H fields at their college.  

The MBC Wanda Bostick Jeffress Memorial STEM Scholarship was established when Wanda Jeffress, a long-standing member of the MBC board of directors, passed away in March 2018. To honor her legacy, two scholarships are awarded annually to graduating seniors of Halifax County High School who are continuing their education in a STEM-H field and display academic achievement, a strong commitment to STEM, and financial need. 

To date, MBC has invested over $100,000 in scholarships. 

Sponsoring Robotics in Southern Virginia 

From 2012 to 2023, MBC sponsored FIRST Robotics FRC and FTC teams in the MBC footprint to support workforce preparation in STEM education, which is a vital component of workforce development and economic revitalization. 

At the conclusion of the MBC FIRST Robotics sponsorship program in 2023, MBC had invested over $676,000 into middle and high school robotics students and programs in Southern Virginia. 

TV White Space (TVWS) Trials 

In December 2013, MBC joined the Dynamic Spectrum Alliance, a global TVWS advocacy group. In 2014, MBC performed TV White Space trials with wireless ISPs in Halifax County and Charlotte County that included using TV white spaces radio technology to extend wireless broadband coverage to unserved communities that were not able to access DSL, cable modems, or other broadband technologies. 

MBC partnered with Adaptrum, B2XOnline, and Microsoft Airband Initiative in 2016 to deploy a pilot project (known as the Microsoft Homework Gap Network) to test the use of TV white space technology by providing no-cost internet connection to student homes in an effort to close the homework gap for K-12 students in Halifax and Charlotte Counties. Ajit Pai, FCC Chairman, visited South Boston in July 2017 to see the Homework Network firsthand. With matching funds from the Virginia Tobacco Commission and Microsoft, over $500,000 was invested in the pilot program which has now closed.  

MBC Day of Service 

In 2018, MBC established a day of service, a day where MBC employees go out into the community to serve. For MBC’s first day of service, MBC employees came together to build a playset, a privacy fence, and do landscaping for a local community group. MBC’s 2019 day of service included MBC employees working with Tri River Habitat for Humanity on their newest house and installing a play set for the family. Although COVID restrictions in 2020 prevented a physical day of service from happening, MBC still helped serve the community by making a monetary donation to the YMCA of South Boston/Halifax County to support their food pantry/delivery to families who were impacted by the pandemic and needed food assistance. 

GoSOVA 

GoSOVA was formed in 2013 to expand the reach of MBC to aggressively engage U.S. west coast businesses, corporate site selection consultants, and professional industry associations on the benefits of expanding to Southern Virginia. MBC opened a marketing office in Santa Clara, California and hired a full-time economic development professional to help market Southern Virginia and various partners to technology companies in the San Francisco Bay Area. The initiative, which completed in 2017, was successful at creating a few R&D pilot projects with west coast companies and southern Virginia organizations, and it cemented some long-term relationships with technology companies on the west coast. 

MBC Towers 

In June 2015, MBC acquired the Tower Services Division of Gamewood Technology Group and established a new wholly owned subsidiary, MBC Towers, Inc, to meet the growing demand for cellular and wireless broadband through more fiber-fed towers. MBC Towers was sold to local investors in 2017. 

IT Academy at SVHEC 

MBC worked with Microsoft and the leadership of the Southern Virginia Higher Education Center (SVHEC) to create the IT Academy, which opened in August 2015. Students of the IT Academy are immersed in a curriculum that allows them to test for and receive multiple CompTIA, cloud administration, and other industry IT certifications, preparing them with industry specific skills needed to succeed in the IT field and support the existing data center industry in Southern Virginia. 

Anthony Putorek, former Senior Global Workforce Development PM for Microsoft, said this of the IT Academies at SVHEC and Southside Virginia Community College (SVCC). “I’m proud to say that what we have accomplished here in Southern Virginia, at the community college and at the Higher Ed Center, has been so successful, so impactful, that Microsoft has commissioned our team to replicate this program across our global data center portfolio.” 

Invest Southern Virginia 

As an outgrowth of the GoSOVA initiative, MBC reinvested in economic development initiatives and formed the brand Invest Southern Virginia in 2017 to attract growing technology, data center, and advanced manufacturing companies in the US, United Kingdom, and Europe to expand and locate to Southern Virginia. Working in partnership with local and regional economic development leaders, Invest Southern Virginia marketed the region to prospective national and international companies seeking a premier east coast location with a specifically trained workforce, pro-business environment, and connected infrastructure. 

SOVA Innovation Hub 

In April 2019, MBC and Microsoft announced a plan to build the SOVA Innovation Hub in downtown South Boston, Virginia.  The SOVA Innovation Hub is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization created to spark economic transformation in Southern Virginia by bringing together business and education partners to offer innovative programs that inspire people to pursue digital careers and entrepreneurship. 

Construction on the facility began in December 2019 and concluded in December 2020. The new 15,000-square foot office building is located on the site of a former tobacco warehouse. At the time of construction, the SOVA Innovation Hub was the first new office building to be built in the downtown area in over 40 years. The state-of-the-art SOVA Innovation Hub facility in South Boston, Virginia includes a coworking space (which includes flex seating, dedicated desks, and private offices), a training space, and the Microsoft Experience Center on the first floor.  MBC headquarters are located on the second floor of the building. 

In June of 2023, MBC acquired the South Boston Fire Department Auxiliary building adjacent to the SOVA Innovation Hub, with plans to redevelop the building. In September 2023, the SOVA Innovation Hub Corporation was awarded a grant from the Economic Development Administration (EDA) and the Virginia Tobacco Commission to renovate the building with additional coworking space, a makerspace, meeting areas, storage, and data center rooms for MBC’s network. For more information on the SOVA Innovation Hub, visit sovainnovationhub.com. 

An Entrepreneurship and Innovation Strategy for Southern Virginia 

In 2019, MBC was awarded a grant from GO Virginia to partner with Longwood University’s Office of Community and Economic Development (OCED) to develop a regional entrepreneurship and innovation (REI) investment strategy for GO Virginia Region 3, which includes 15 localities in Southern Virginia. The resulting strategy, which is driven by community engagement and best practices, offered a series of recommendations to grow Southern Virginia’s entrepreneurial and innovation economy. The strategy was officially adopted by the GO Virginia Region 3 Council in October 2020. 

While this grant was ongoing, MBC, through a partnership with Microsoft TechSpark, created the SOVA Innovation Hub to focus on enhancing digital skills and entrepreneurship development in Southern Virginia. 

In November 2020, MBC again partnered with Longwood’s OCED, this time through the SOVA Innovation Hub, to apply for another grant to begin implementation of the strategy. In March 2021, the GO Virginia State Board approved the implementation grant submitted by the SOVA Innovation Hub in partnership with the Longwood OCED. Partners providing additional in-kind and cash match included MBC, the Longwood Small Business Development Center (SBDC), and Hampden-Sydney College. The two-year implementation project ran from April 2021 through March 2023 and included a four-part mission consisting of 1) creating entrepreneurial training pipelines, 2) increasing capital access for entrepreneurs, 3) convening Southern Virginia’s entrepreneurial ecosystem to create an innovation economy, and 4) the development of the design and operation plan for an innovation hub facility in Farmville (now known as the SEED Innovation Hub) that will be created and supported by Longwood University and Hampden-Sydney College. This initiative is known as RISE Collaborative.  

In September 2023, the SOVA Innovation Hub was awarded an additional $600,000 from GO Virginia to continue to boost the entrepreneurial ecosystem throughout the region.

The MBC open-access fiber network and the projected economic impact has exceeded all expectations. The broadband capacity, market-based competition, and advanced technology and reach MBC has brought to Southern Virginia has attracted numerous companies to the region and has helped to bring thousands of jobs and billions of dollars of private sector investment to the region. Most notably, MBC was a critical component in securing the Microsoft data center project for Southern Virginia which has generated billions of dollars in private investment and created hundreds of jobs. Microsoft continues to invest and grow their data center campus operations in our region. 

MBC is excited to be recognized worldwide as a model of how public investments in wholesale open-access broadband telecommunications infrastructure can generate economic development returns for local communities.