The N.C. Department of Information Technology’s (NCDIT) Division of Broadband and Digital Equity has announced an additional $112 million in Completing Access to Broadband (CAB) program projects to connect 25,903 households and businesses in 19 counties to high-speed internet.
These projects will be funded by more than $61 million from the federal American Rescue Plan awarded by NCDIT, more than $25 million from counties and nearly $26 million from selected broadband providers:
- Buncombe County: Bellsouth Telecommunications, LLC (AT&T North Carolina). This award will provide high-speed internet access to 967 locations (40% of the county’s 2,394 eligible locations).
- Burke County: Connect Holding II, LLC (Brightspeed) and Spectrum Southeast, LLC (Charter Communications). These awards will provide high-speed internet access to 742 locations (21% of the county’s 3,469 eligible locations).
- Caldwell County: Spectrum Southeast, LLC (Charter Communications). This award will provide high-speed internet access to 160 locations (9% of the county’s 1,769 eligible locations).
- Caswell County: Spectrum Southeast, LLC (Charter Communications). This award will provide high-speed internet access to 589 locations (38% of the county’s 1,552 eligible locations).
- Cumberland County: Connect Holding II, LLC (Brightspeed) and StarVision, Inc. These awards will provide high-speed internet access to 1,692 locations (74% of the county’s 2,286 eligible locations).
- Edgecombe County: Connect Holding II, LLC (Brightspeed). This award will provide high-speed internet access to 1,420 locations (64% of the county’s 2,212 eligible locations).
- Franklin County: Connect Holding II, LLC (Brightspeed). This award will provide high-speed internet access to 2,374 locations (50% of the county’s 4,714 eligible locations).
- Granville County: Roanoke Connect Holdings (Fybe). This award will provide high-speed internet access to 1,697 locations (40% of the county’s 4,237 eligible locations).
- Harnett County: Connect Holding II, LLC (Brightspeed). This award will provide high-speed internet access to 1,539 locations (32% of the county’s 4,878 eligible locations).
- Macon County: BalsamWest FiberNET, LLC. These awards will provide high-speed internet access to 1,163 locations (45% of the county’s 2,598 eligible locations).
- Martin County: Connect Holding II, LLC (Brightspeed). This award will provide high-speed internet access to 2,064 locations (95% of the county’s 2,181 eligible locations).
- Northampton County: Connect Holding II, LLC (Brightspeed) and Spectrum Southeast, LLC (Charter Communications). These awards will provide high-speed internet access to 902 locations (94% of the county’s 963 eligible locations).
- Person County: Spectrum Southeast, LLC (Charter Communications). These awards will provide high-speed internet access to 1,850 locations (54% of the county’s 3,412 eligible locations).
- Polk County: Skyrunner, Inc. This award will provide high-speed internet access to 2,680 locations (92% of the county’s 2,919 eligible locations).
- Rockingham County: Spectrum Southeast, LLC (Charter Communications). This award will provide high-speed internet access to 898 locations (39% of the county’s 2,286 eligible locations).
- Stanly County: Bellsouth Telecommunications, LLC (AT&T North Carolina) and Windstream North Carolina, LLC. These awards will provide high-speed internet access to 1,013 locations (22% of the county’s 4,566 eligible locations).
- Swain County: Zito West Holding, LLC (Zito Media). This award will provide high-speed internet access to 518 locations (32% of the county’s 1,595 eligible locations).
- Wake County: Bellsouth Telecommunications, LLC (AT&T North Carolina) and Spectrum Southeast, LLC (Charter Communications). These awards will provide high-speed internet access to 1,722 locations (63% of the county’s 2,751 eligible locations).
- Warren County: Connect Holding II, LLC (Brightspeed) and Spectrum Southeast, LLC (Charter Communications). These awards will provide high-speed internet access to 1,913 locations (66% of the county’s 2,895 eligible locations).
The CAB program’s procurement process creates a partnership between counties and NCDIT to identify areas that need access, solicit proposals from prequalified internet service providers and quickly make awards. Awardees must agree to provide high-speed service that reliably meets or exceeds speeds of 100 Mbps download and 100 Mbps upload.
“We are excited so many counties and internet service providers have partnered with us on the CAB program,” said NCDIT Deputy Secretary for Broadband and Digital Equity Nate Denny. “These awarded projects will help us make significant progress on closing the state’s digital divide.”
These CAB program awards will be added in late July to NCDIT’s new dashboards that show details and progress on programs funded by the federal American Rescue Plan Act as part of Governor Cooper’s plan to close the digital divide. The awards add to the nearly $404 million in Growing Rural Economies with Access to Technology (GREAT) grants and previous CAB funding awarded in 2022-2024 that are set to connect nearly 161,000 North Carolina households and businesses to high-speed internet.
For more information about the NCDIT Division of Broadband and Digital Equity and Governor Cooper’s plan to close the digital divide, visit ncbroadband.gov.
Written by the NCDIT.