| Millions of federal dollars have been spent on bringing broadband to rural areas of West Virginia, mostly wired systems.
A number of pilot projects to bring wireless broadband to rural communities have bellied up, why some have been scams.
Millions have been spent on studies.
$4 MILLION BROADBAND CEO SCAMMER SENTENCED - Laughery "Took" United Bank & Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Council
WV AT RISK OF LOSING $4.4 MIL BROADBAND EXPANSION OVER MISMANAGEMENT
HELP IS ON THE WAY - FCC Launches Rural Broadband Experiments
$22 MILLION "CONNECT AMERICA" FRONTIER GRANT WILL GIVE RURAL WEST VIRGINIANS BROADBAND ACCESS? - Calhoun Will Be CBS News Subject, Poor Broadband Connectivity
WV'S BROADBAND WOES: FRONTIER GRANTED "UNINTENDED" MONOPOLY - Secret Study Reveals State Squandered Millions Of Dollars
Read stories regarding rural access by using Hur Herald SEARCH: search word BROADBAND.
W.Va. Broadband-Expansion Panel Pays $2M Of $5M Budget To Pa. Consultants
By Eric Eyre, Charleston Gazette Staff writer
A governor-appointed council set up to give away $5 million in state funds for projects to bring high-speed Internet to homes and businesses in West Virginia wound up paying nearly $2 million to an out-of-state consulting firm, according to a financial statement released last week.
Since late 2009, the West Virginia Broadband Deployment Council has paid L.R. Kimball, an Edensburg, Pennsylvania-based company, $1.88 million. The payments are expected to top $2 million â about 40 percent of the council's entire $5 million legislative appropriation â by Dec. 31, the day the council is scheduled to be disbanded.
L.R. Kimball received the bulk of its consulting fees â nearly $1 million â to manage the Broadband Deployment Council's grant program. The council has awarded 11 grants over the past two years.
Council Chairman Dan O'Hanlon said Kimball's consultants have done exemplary work, but he acknowledged, "They're not cheap."
Kimball has charged the council about $30,000 a month this year, O'Hanlon said. "They're very knowledgeable, very professional," O'Hanlon said.
Read the rest W.Va. Broadband-Expansion Panel Pays $2M Of $5M Budget To Pa. Consultants by Eric Eyre for the Charleston Gazette
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