On Tuesday, August 25, 2026, local, state and federal leaders gathered at Bedford County Supervisor Edgar Tuck’s farm in Moneta to highlight the impact of the federal government’s Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) funding on rural communities.

Tuck Farm is one of approximately 1,600 Bedford County addresses that will gain access to broadband through BEAD funding. The majority of Bedford County’s BEAD project area will be connected through fiber from Moneta-based ZiTel, while SpaceX and Amazon will provide low-Earth-orbit (LEO) broadband to the remaining addresses.

Arielle Roth—assistant secretary of commerce, administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration—announced at the event that all 56 state and territory BEAD projects have been approved, marking the final step toward closing the digital divide for communities across the country.

Other speakers at the event included Chandler Vaughan of the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development’s Office of Broadband; Supervisor Edgar Tuck; Rodney Gray of ZiTel; Ashley de la Torre of Amazon; and Congressman Morgan Griffith.

Learn more about the BEAD program here.