Solar project to fuel Internet access in Russell County

To inquire about Internet service in rural Russell County: Call Virginia Mountain Micro at (866) 935-8037.

LEBANON, Va. – They were built decades ago to guard against fire in the wooded hills and hollows of Southwest Virginia. Now, the old fire towers remaining on the region’s ridgelines are to serve as beacons of progress into the 21st century.

In the Moccasin Valley area of Russell County, it is already beaming from the mountaintop: high-speed Internet that reaches into the remote hollows.

Even better, this 21st-century technology is fueled by what has always been plentiful along the region’s ridgelines: sunshine and wind.

Funded in Moccasin Valley with a $99,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development Agency, the concept is simple: Equip the remote towers with the means to generate their own energy – and use that to bring the Internet to the people.

“It would cost a lot of money and actually be prohibitively expensive to place a traditional electricity line from one of the electric stations all the way to the top of the mountain, to the top of that tower,” said U.S. Rep. Rick Boucher, who formally launched the service Monday.

Joined by a small group of people at the Oak Grove Community Center, Boucher said the service is now available in Moccasin Valley – and the green-energy solution it employs will soon serve as a model for providing Internet service throughout rural America.

He said this is the way Internet access can be brought to every household in Southwest Virginia.

The Russell County Industrial Development Authority bought the wireless equipment and leased it to Virginia Mountain Micro, a Grundy-based company that also provides Internet service to hundreds of customers in Honaker, Lebanon, Cleveland, Hansonville, Castlewood and St. Paul.

A long, scenic valley dotted with trailer homes and old wooden barns, grazing cattle and little white churches, Moccasin Valley winds all the way from Alternate U.S. Highway 58 down into Scott County.

Looking down on Moccasin Valley in Russell County and the community of Mendota on the other side of the mountain in Washington County is the Mendota Fire Tower. Perched atop Clinch Mountain, it’s been a landmark in the area for generations.“As long as you can see the tower, you can get it [Internet service],” said Steve VanDyke, president of Virginia Mountain Micro.

He said the service ranges in cost from $44.90 a month for Internet 17 times the speed of dial-up to $84.90 a month, for a connection 50 times the speed of dial-up.

“I know everybody is not happy with wireless,” said Harry Rutherford, chairman of the IDA, “but that beats no Internet at all.”

No Internet at all has made life difficult for residents like Gary Kwapisz, an illustrator who runs his publishing business out of his home. He said the new connection has been “a lifesaver.”

“On dial-up it was just about impossible for me to work,” said Kwapisz, who moved here with is family from Vermont about three years ago.

“When our phones went out [because of rain], and cell phones don’t work where we live, and we had no Internet, we were blind and dumb and stupid, and you can’t run a business like that.”

These days, he said, the Internet is critical for small business – and without it, businesses like his won’t develop in a community. Having reliable access expands the area’s job possibilities.

Bert Fugate said the service is important for kids like his daughter, a bright high-school student who can now take online courses to help her prepare for college.

VanDyke said Hayter’s Gap, Taylor’s Valley and areas of Highway 58 are on the list to receive wireless Internet service in the near future.