RALEIGH — Across North Carolina, 25,825 households and 862 businesses in 33 counties will get high-speed internet thanks to nearly $80 million in additional Growing Rural Economies with Access to Technology (GREAT) grants, Gov. Roy Cooper announced on July 6.
“We want all North Carolinians connected to high-speed internet so they can take full advantage of digital opportunities for work, learning, health and more,” Gov. Cooper said. “These grants will fund projects in communities from all corners of our state so more families and business will have access to affordable, reliable broadband.”
The N.C. Dept. of Information Technology (NCDIT) Broadband Infrastructure Office awarded GREAT grants to deploy broadband infrastructure in the following counties:
Alamance County: Bellsouth Telecommunications, LLC (AT&T North Carolina)
Beaufort County: Spectrum Southeast, LLC (Charter Communications)
Bertie County: Roanoke Connect Holdings (Fybe)
Bladen County: Star Telephone Membership Corp (Star Communications)
Buncombe County: Skyrunner Inc.
Burke County: Spectrum Southeast, LLC (Charter Communications)
Caldwell County: Spectrum Southeast, LLC (Charter Communications)
Caswell County: Spectrum Southeast, LLC (Charter Communications)
Catawba County: Spectrum Southeast, LLC (Charter Communications)
Chatham County: Bellsouth Telecommunications, LLC (AT&T North Carolina)
Cherokee County: CND Acquisition Corporation
Chowan County: ATMC (Focus Broadband)
Clay County: Blue Ridge Mountain EMC
Duplin County: Hosted America LLC
Durham County: NC Communications Advanced Services, LLC (Lumos)
Graham County: Zito West Holding, LLC
Greene County: Nfinity Link Communications Inc.
Guilford County: NC Communications Advanced Services, LLC (Lumos)
Halifax County: Connect Holding II LLC (Brightspeed)
Jackson County: Balsam West
Lee County: Ting Fiber Inc.
Macon County: Balsam West
Montgomery County: Spectrum Southeast, LLC (Charter Communications)
Moore County: Spectrum Southeast, LLC (Charter Communications)
Nash County: Connect Holding II LLC (Brightspeed)
Perquimans County: ATMC (Focus Broadband)
Person County: Connect Holding II LLC (Brightspeed)
Pitt County: Spectrum Southeast, LLC (Charter Communications)
Swain County: Cherokee Cablevision, Inc.
Transylvania County: Citizens Telephone Company
Wake County: Connect Holding II LLC (Brightspeed)
Warren County: Zitel LLC
Wayne County: NC Communications Advanced Services, LLC (Lumos)
These latest grant awards add to the more than $269 million total awarded in 2022 to connect 117,405 households and businesses. The GREAT grant program, established in 2018, is a competitive program that provides matching grants to internet service providers that may partner with individual North Carolina counties to expand high-speed internet service to unserved areas of the state.
“This grant program is already set to bring high-speed internet to numerous households and businesses across North Carolina, and we’re pleased that we will now reach even more unserved areas,” NCDIT Secretary and State Chief Information Officer Jim Weaver said. “These grants are just one of the many ways we are working to expand internet access and ensure digital equity.”
As part of the federally-funded GREAT grant eligibility requirements, all internet service provider applicants must participate in the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) to offer eligible low-income households a $30 per month discount on high-speed internet service, or provide access to a comparable low-cost program. Learn more about $30 per month reliable, high-speed internet packages offered by internet service providers at getinternet.gov.
NCDIT has now awarded all of the $350 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding available for the GREAT grant program. For this round of funding, the Division of Broadband and Digital Equity reviewed a total of 104 eligible applications in 58 counties.
Grants are being awarded to the highest-scoring internet provider that applied in each county based on the number of households and businesses they propose to serve, the average cost to serve those locations, and the speeds offered, among other criteria required by law.
Applicants must agree to provide high-speed service, defined as a minimum of 100 Megabits per second (Mbps) download and 20 Mbps upload, scalable to 100 Mbps download and 100 Mbps upload on or before Dec. 31, 2026. All awards are contingent on final executed grant agreements with broadband provider partners. The division plans to make additional awards to remaining counties using additional federal funds later this month.