(The Center Square) — A little over a year after it was announced that Virginia would receive $1.4 billion in federal funding for broadband deployment across the state, the commonwealth is one step closer to accessing those funds.

The Virginia Initial Proposal Volume 2, a 57-page document answering questions about how the state will achieve near-universal internet access – the goal of the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program, the program supplying the funding – has been approved by the federal government.