At least 1.1 million North Carolina households lack access to high-speed internet, cannot afford it or do not have the skills needed to take advantage of the digital economy. Various state and national initiatives are working to close the digital divide to achieve digital equity for all North Carolinians.
Recognizing that more people than ever before were needed to work and go to school remotely, the County approved $150,000 in Coronavirus Relief Funds (CRF) to go towards fixed wireless broadband expansion using Open Broadband. Open Broadband's coverage map shows potential coverage areas in the northern part of the county and southeastern areas. Citizens in Open Broadband coverage areas can contact them directly to sign up for service.
The Federal Communications Commission’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) broadband initiative is the single largest distribution of Universal Service Fund (USF) dollars made available to communications service providers in US history.
Elibigility
RDOF will provide $20.4 billion in funding over a ten-year period to support the construction of broadband networks in rural communities across the country.
Eligible areas include those without current (or already funded) access to adequate broadband service, defined by the FCC as 25 Mbps downstream and 3 Mbps upstream (25/3).
Spectrum
Spectrum has launched a multiyear effort to expand broadband access as part of the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF). The entire buildout is estimated to be completed by 2027 with some states finalizing construction into early 2028. Check availability.
The Growing Rural Economies with Access to Technology (GREAT) Grant is a competitive grant program that provides funding to private sector broadband providers to deploy last-mile broadband infrastructure to unserved areas of North Carolina. The original GREAT Grant program was initiated in 2018 and launched in 2019, and subsequently became a recurring state-funded grant program within the NCDIT Broadband Infrastructure Office.
Rowan County contributed $100,000 with county ARPA funds to help with the GREAT grant build out, which will provide broadband to specific unserved addresses in Rowan County by 2026. Spectrum was awarded the contract to provide this build out.
[{"WidgetSkinID":108,"ComponentType":8,"FontFamily":"Poppins","FontVariant":"regular","FontColor":"","FontSize":0.00,"FontStyle":0,"TextAlignment":0,"ShadowColor":"","ShadowBlurRadius":0,"ShadowSpreadRadius":0,"ShadowOffsetX":0,"ShadowOffsetY":0,"ShadowInset":false,"Capitalization":0,"HeaderMiscellaneousStyles1":"","HeaderMiscellaneousStyles2":"","HeaderMiscellaneousStyles3":"","BulletStyle":0,"BulletWidth":2.00,"BulletColor":"","LinkNormalColor":"#ffffff","LinkNormalUnderlined":false,"LinkNormalMiscellaneousStyles":"background-color: #007396;\nbox-shadow: 0px 10px 20px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.25);\nborder-radius: 5px;\ntext-transform: uppercase;\npadding: 0.5em 2em;\nwidth: fit-content;\nmargin: 1.75em auto 0 auto;\ntransition: all .3s ease-in-out;","LinkVisitedColor":"#ffffff","LinkVisitedMiscellaneousStyles":"background-color: #007396;","LinkHoverColor":"#ffffff","LinkHoverUnderlined":true,"LinkHoverMiscellaneousStyles":"background-color: #00536C;\npadding: 0.5em 3.5em;","LinkSelectedUnderlined":false,"ForceReadOnLinkToNewLine":false,"DisplayColumnSeparator":false,"ColumnSeparatorWidth":0.0000,"HoverBackgroundColor":"","HoverBackgroundGradientStartingColor":"","HoverBackgroundGradientEndingColor":"","HoverBackgroundGradientDirection":0,"HoverBackgroundGradientDegrees":0.0000000,"HoverBackgroundImageFileName":"","HoverBackgroundImagePositionXUseKeyword":true,"HoverBackgroundImagePositionXKeyword":0,"HoverBackgroundImagePositionX":{"Value":0.0000,"Unit":0},"HoverBackgroundImagePositionYUseKeyword":true,"HoverBackgroundImagePositionYKeyword":0,"HoverBackgroundImagePositionY":{"Value":0.0000,"Unit":0},"HoverBackgroundImageRepeat":0,"HoverBorderStyle":0,"HoverBorderWidth":0,"HoverBorderColor":"","HoverBorderSides":15,"HoverBorderRadiusTopLeft":{"Value":null,"Unit":1},"HoverBorderRadiusTopRight":{"Value":null,"Unit":1},"HoverBorderRadiusBottomRight":{"Value":null,"Unit":1},"HoverBorderRadiusBottomLeft":{"Value":null,"Unit":1},"SelectedBackgroundColor":"","SelectedBackgroundGradientStartingColor":"","SelectedBackgroundGradientEndingColor":"","SelectedBackgroundGradientDirection":0,"SelectedBackgroundGradientDegrees":0.0000000,"SelectedBackgroundImageFileName":"","SelectedBackgroundImagePositionXUseKeyword":true,"SelectedBackgroundImagePositionXKeyword":0,"SelectedBackgroundImagePositionX":{"Value":0.0000,"Unit":0},"SelectedBackgroundImagePositionYUseKeyword":true,"SelectedBackgroundImagePositionYKeyword":0,"SelectedBackgroundImagePositionY":{"Value":0.0000,"Unit":0},"SelectedBackgroundImageRepeat":0,"SelectedBorderStyle":0,"SelectedBorderWidth":0,"SelectedBorderColor":"","SelectedBorderSides":15,"SelectedBorderRadiusTopLeft":{"Value":null,"Unit":1},"SelectedBorderRadiusTopRight":{"Value":null,"Unit":1},"SelectedBorderRadiusBottomRight":{"Value":null,"Unit":1},"SelectedBorderRadiusBottomLeft":{"Value":null,"Unit":1},"HoverFontFamily":"","HoverFontVariant":"","HoverFontColor":"","HoverFontSize":0.00,"HoverFontStyle":0,"HoverTextAlignment":0,"HoverShadowColor":"","HoverShadowBlurRadius":0,"HoverShadowSpreadRadius":0,"HoverShadowOffsetX":0,"HoverShadowOffsetY":0,"HoverShadowInset":false,"HoverCapitalization":0,"SelectedFontFamily":"","SelectedFontVariant":"","SelectedFontColor":"","SelectedFontSize":0.00,"SelectedFontStyle":0,"SelectedShadowColor":"","SelectedShadowBlurRadius":0,"SelectedShadowSpreadRadius":0,"SelectedShadowOffsetX":0,"SelectedShadowOffsetY":0,"SelectedShadowInset":false,"SpaceBetweenTabs":0,"SpaceBetweenTabsUnits":"","Trigger":1,"AnimationId":"00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000","AnimationClass":"animation00000000000000000000000000000000","ScrollOffset":33,"TriggerNameLowerCase":"hover","ParentComponentWithTrigger":null,"BackgroundColor":"","BackgroundGradientStartingColor":"","BackgroundGradientEndingColor":"","BackgroundGradientDirection":0,"BackgroundGradientDegrees":0.0000000,"BackgroundImageFileName":"","BackgroundImagePositionXUseKeyword":true,"BackgroundImagePositionXKeyword":0,"BackgroundImagePositionX":{"Value":0.0000,"Unit":0},"BackgroundImagePositionYUseKeyword":true,"BackgroundImagePositionYKeyword":0,"BackgroundImagePositionY":{"Value":0.0000,"Unit":0},"BackgroundImageRepeat":0,"BorderStyle":0,"BorderWidth":0,"BorderColor":"","BorderSides":15,"BorderRadiusTopLeft":{"Value":null,"Unit":1},"BorderRadiusTopRight":{"Value":null,"Unit":1},"BorderRadiusBottomRight":{"Value":null,"Unit":1},"BorderRadiusBottomLeft":{"Value":null,"Unit":1},"MarginTop":{"Value":null,"Unit":0},"MarginRight":{"Value":null,"Unit":0},"MarginBottom":{"Value":null,"Unit":0},"MarginLeft":{"Value":null,"Unit":0},"PaddingTop":{"Value":null,"Unit":0},"PaddingRight":{"Value":null,"Unit":0},"PaddingBottom":{"Value":null,"Unit":0},"PaddingLeft":{"Value":null,"Unit":0},"MiscellaneousStyles":"","RecordStatus":0}]