The Roanoke Valley’s new open-access fiber-optic broadband network is officially on-line. Local government and business leaders are cut the ribbon today (see photo) at the Blue Ridge PBS studios. Kevin Boggess is chairman of the Roanoke Valley Broadband Authority. Boggess is also the City Manager in Salem. During a news conference he said private internet providers cannot match the speeds offered by the fiber-optic based broadband that many large users of data now require.