Wi-Fi To Blanket USVI, Official Says

If Stephan Adams has his way, there won’t be a square inch of the U.S. Virgin Islands without a wireless internet signal.

Using an alphabet soup of government funding programs, Adams, the president and CEO of viNGN — the Virgin Islands Next Generation Network — plans to bring Wi-Fi to parks, ports, schools, hospitals, beaches, public housing, shopping districts, community centers, government offices, and street corners. The viNGN operates a federally-funded fiberoptic network in the territory and is wholly owned by the V.I. government.

“This is just the beginning,” Adams told the Legislature’s Committee on Housing, Transportation, and Telecommunications on Tuesday. “We have 176 hotspots. By the time we’re done with this program we will have more than 1,000 hotspots. There won’t be a place you can go in the territory you won’t be able to go without hitting one of viNGN’s hotspots and it will be free.”

Digitally unserved and underserved U.S. Virgin Islanders could benefit from the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program, the Digital Equity Act Program, the Middle Mile Broadband Infrastructure Program, and the American Rescue Plan Act for public Wi-Fi and broadband service in their homes, Adams said.