RICHMOND, Va. – All Points Broadband, Dominion Energy Virginia, and the Pamunkey Indian Tribe announced today that they have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding to pursue delivery of fiber-to-the-home broadband access to the Pamunkey Indian Reservation in King William County, Virginia, subject to regulatory approval. 

“We are pleased to partner with All Points and the Pamunkey Tribe to help extend broadband access to unserved residents of the Pamunkey Reservation,” said Ed Baine, president of Dominion Energy Virginia. “Our work with All Points is about delivering economic opportunity and improved quality of life to as many unserved Virginians as possible. Today’s announcement represents another important partnership that will help bridge the digital divide in the Commonwealth.”

“Ensuring high quality broadband access for our reservation has been a long-term priority for the Pamunkey Tribe,” said Chief Robert Gray. “Joining with Dominion Energy Virginia and All Points to expand their ongoing efforts in King William is a unique opportunity to achieve this critical step for the future of the Tribe and we are excited to lend our support to this public private partnership.”

As it moves forward with efforts to modernize Virginia’s energy grid, Dominion Energy Virginia is working to provide “middle-mile” fiber optic cable infrastructure that can also be used to bridge the digital gap and reduce broadband deployment obstacles for internet service providers (ISPs). All Points will lease the “middle-mile” fiber installed by Dominion Energy Virginia and will be the internet service provider for the partnership. The Pamunkey Tribe will coordinate with All Points Broadband to ensure that fiber-to-the-home broadband is available to the Pamunkey Reservation. 

“In the past seven months, All Points has developed network plans and secured federal funding to extend fiber-to-the-home broadband to the 900 unserved homes and businesses in the first phase of our strategic plan for King William,” said Jimmy Carr, CEO of All Points. “Today’s announcement is a major step forward for expanding our footprint in King William and we look forward to working with the Pamunkey Tribe to achieve their vision for universal access on the reservation.”

Under the agreement, the Pamunkey Tribe will work with Dominion Energy Virginia and All Points to develop an expanded network plan to be submitted to the State Corporation Commission for approval and to secure additional funding to accelerate construction of the fiber-to-the-home network.

If all efforts in King William are approved, the Pamunkey Reservation would be the second reservation to receive access to broadband through this program. The Mattaponi Reservation is slated to receive access through efforts previously announced for King William.

Dominion Energy Virginia is actively working to create partnerships with ISPs to reach localities in its electric service area without high-speed internet. These partnerships are made possible under a pilot program enacted by legislation in 2018 and made permanent during the 2021 General Assembly session which enables and encourages collaboration between electric utilities, ISPs and localities to provide internet service to unserved areas.  The Company currently has announced partnerships to provide middle-mile broadband infrastructure in Botetourt, King William, Louisa, and Surry Counties and on Virginia’s Northern Neck (in the counties of King George, Northumberland, Richmond, and Westmoreland). These projects are expected to bring internet access to thousands of customers.

About All Points Broadband

All Points Broadband empowers communities by bringing utility grade broadband to underserved markets, deploying fiber and state-of-the-art fixed-wireless technology to homes and businesses in communities throughout Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and Kentucky, and is focused on leveraging partnerships with electric utilities and underserved jurisdictions to deliver fiber-to-the-home broadband access to unserved homes and businesses.  Since October of 2020, All Points has secured more than $51 million in state and federal grants, and stakeholder partner contributions, to deploy broadband networks in its partner communities. 

About Dominion Energy

More than 7 million customers in 16 states energize their homes and businesses with electricity or natural gas from Dominion Energy (NYSE: D), headquartered in Richmond, Va. The company is committed to sustainable, reliable, affordable and safe energy and to achieving net zero carbon dioxide and methane emissions from its power generation and gas infrastructure operations by 2050. Please visit DominionEnergy.com to learn more.

About the Pamunkey Tribe

The Pamunkey Indian Tribe is one of 11 Virginia Indian tribes recognized by the Commonwealth of Virginia and the state's first federally recognized tribe by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. This federal recognition came in early 2016 and allows the tribe to pursue economic development opportunities that will ensure their long-term viability. Their 1,600 acres of Pamunkey land are tucked in along the north bank of the Pamunkey River in King William County, where they continue to be stewards of the environment and contributing members of the surrounding community. Claiming Pocahontas as an early ancestor, the tribe currently has approximately 60 citizens living on the reservations and another 350 living throughout the country.