Virginia, Maryland & Delaware Association of Broadband Cooperatives

09/05/2025

Central Virginia Electric Cooperative and Firefly Fiber Broadband executives and staff members pose under the vendor area entrance arch during the 5th annual VMDABC Rural Fiber Expo.

If you have pictures from the 2025 Rural Fiber Expo, please feel free to share them in the comments.

09/05/2025

VMDABC extends its thanks to everyone who attended this year’s Rural Fiber Expo, to Commonwealth Fiber Services and Lane Chambers for CFS’ title sponsorship, and looks forward to welcoming cooperative broadband leaders back next year.

09/04/2025

Thank you to all the vendors who participated in the 2025 Rural Fiber Expo!

This year’s Expo featured over 50 vendors, including companies with operations that are regional, national and international in scope, showcasing the latest in broadband technology, network operations and services. These partnerships are essential in our collective mission to lead in delivering world-class broadband to the communities we serve.

Donna Richardson West, of Choptank Electric Cooperative and Choptank Fiber, and George Goin of Central Virginia Electric Cooperative and Firefly Fiber Broadband share a smile in the vendor area during the 5th annual VMDABC Rural Fiber Expo.

09/04/2025

Jay Lewis (left), a director at BARC Electric Co-op, BARC Connects, and VMDABC , Chris Botulinski (center), COO of BARC Electric Cooperative and Sam Brumberg (right), Vice President & General Counsel of VMDABC, participate in a roundtable discussion during the 5th annual VMDABC Rural Fiber Expo.

09/03/2025

The 2025 Rural Fiber Expo included series of panel discussions,
like the CEO Summit pictured below. This panel reviewed service differentiation for broadband providers owned by electric co-ops.

Discussions at these panels and roundtables emphasized service quality, speed, reliability, safety and member services as key cooperative differentiators.

From left, Central Virginia Electric Cooperative and Firefly Fiber Broadband CEO Gary Wood, Mecklenburg Electric Cooperative and EMPOWER Broadband CEO Casey Logan, Choptank Electric Cooperative and Choptank Fiber CEO Mike Malandro, Prince George Electric Cooperative and RURALBAND CEO Sarat Yellepeddi and Craig Botetourt Electric Cooperative and Bee Online Advantage Broadband CEO Jeff Ahearn onstage during the Conversations with Rural Broadband Leaders CEO Panel at the 5th annual VMDABC Rural Fiber Expo.

09/02/2025

Thank you to all who attended this year's 2025 Rural Fiber Expo!

Over 200 leaders from across the broadband and cooperative community convened in Richmond, Va. for this annual event.

01/19/2024

Other internet service providers are pushing a proposed bill (HB800/SB713) which would have you think that make-ready costs need to be offloaded to rural electric ratepayers. Firefly has proven that you can successfully build a broadband project and fund it through grants and private investments. Join Firefly & CVEC President & CEO Gary Wood as he joins a panel discussion regarding grants and explains this model, as well as the steps that can be taken to pursue grant funds for broadband projects.

What: Regional Fiber Connect Workshop
Where: Omni Hotel, Richmond, Virginia
When: Thursday, February 8th
Registration link: https://www.edgereg.net/er/EventHomePage/CustomPage.jsp?ActivityID=42271&ItemID=137716

08/11/2022

Register now for the 2022 Rural Fiber Expo in Norfolk, Va. Sponsorship and exhibitor opportunities also available.

Register now! Sept. 14-16 | Hilton Norfolk The Main YOU'RE INVITED! The 2022 Virginia, Maryland & Delaware Association of Broadband Cooperatives Annual Meeting and the Rural Fiber Expo will be held Se

06/27/2022

VMDABC is proud to announce that the second annual member event, the , will be held September 14-16, 2022, at Hilton The Main Hotel in Norfolk, Va.

Join us for the second annual VMDABC Rural Fiber Expo September 14-16 at Hilton The Main Hotel in Norfolk, VA!     |     Learn More ->

03/31/2022

Firefly Fiber Broadband is proud to bring affordable, high-speed internet to rural central Virginia. We offer internet speeds of up to 1Gbps, along with fair pricing, honest service, and a reliable network. Experience the Firefly Difference today. Visit www.fireflyva.com.

03/28/2022

🎉ZONE OPENING!🎉

Our Dinwiddie County zone is now ready to schedule services. Congratulations to those gaining access to fiber!

With the opening of these zones, RURALBAND can now offer broadband and voice services to another 404 homes and businesses.

If you live in any of the areas shown, sign up now at https://join.ruralband.coop/.

If you have pre-registered for service, you can sign-in at https://join.ruralband.coop/users/sign_in to complete your application for service.

We understand the importance of fiber internet and are working as quickly and efficiently as possible to reach 100% of our electric members as well as some adjacent communities with world-class fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) broadband.

For questions or further assistance, give us a call at 804-834-2424.

Welcome to the world of high-speed internet!

03/24/2022

Great info from Firefly Fiber Broadband!

Did you know that fiber splicing crews must fuse individual fibers, similar to the size of fishing line, together in order to add lines or install service drops? That’s right! Each individual splicing job can take 2-12 hours to complete, depending on the number of fibers to be spliced.