Comcast has announced a major broadband expansion in the Town of Bedford. It has begun construction work on a project to connect over 4500 homes and businesses with high-speed internet.
“This is really just a continuation of us looking to expand our products and services and bring choice to more residents and businesses across the Commonwealth,” said Comcast Vice President of Public Relations Kristie Fox. “What we’re trying to do is just bring more choice and options to the residents and businesses of the Town of Bedford.”
The Town of Bedford said it has been working out the details of the project with Comcast over the last few months. It said there will be significant benefits for Bedford residents.
“We are growing. We’ve got several new housing developments growing. With those expansions, we want to make sure that everyone’s needs are being met, and again more competition means better services and more competitive rates for everyone,” said Bedford Vice Mayor Darryl Updike.
Updike said having options for high-speed internet access is important for people and businesses in 2025.
“Having more capabilities for our businesses to be able to access that particular type of technology, it just seemed like it would go hand in hand with our growth and with our existing businesses,” said Updike. “It’s just one more effort that the town is trying to make sure that everyone’s needs are met and that we can provide the best services for our community.”
The project is an investment by Comcast and is fully funded by the company. Over the next two years, crews will work to install fiber optic cables throughout the town, giving Bedford residents access to Comcast’s internet and mobile services.
“We’re bringing our network to this town for the first time. This will be a fiber deployment, so we’ll be going underground, and there is some complexity to that, there are some access requirements and stuff we need to get through the town. By bringing fiber, one of the big benefits there is we can bring symmetrical speeds to these residents,” said Fox.
This is just the latest of several Comcast broadband expansions in communities across Virginia. Fox said some challenges make rural broadband rollouts a lengthier process.
“Sometimes you need to get approvals to go under a river or over a bridge, or through a forested area. So that can just be challenging from a topography and geography perspective. But this is something that we’re very focused on. We’ve expanded across the Commonwealth. We had Strasburg, Christiansburg, we’ve also expanded in Radford and the Lynchburg area with Campbell County, Forest, and the City of Lynchburg,” said Fox.
One Bedford resident who spoke to WDBJ7 said Comcast coming to the town is good news because her current internet service at home is very slow.
“We’re so excited because it used to be that going on a Zoom meant trucking into the public library and oftentimes their connection was not much better than my own at home,” said Ruth Plum, who lives in Bedford.
Plum said the internet at her home often causes problems when she has online meetings for work.
“Sometimes the meeting will go on without me, and people will be frozen, or I’ll be frozen on their screens. It will totally go off and say ‘low broadband width’,” she said.
Comcast said the first homes and businesses will be connected this summer, and the entire project should be complete by 2027.
Source: https://www.wdbj7.com/2025/05/21/comcast-announces-broadband-expansion-bedford/
