NC is receiving over $1.5 billion to expand high-speed internet. Here’s what to know.

BY JAZPER LU JUNE 26, 2023 6:54 PM

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North Carolina is set to receive the fifth-highest funding allotment of all the states, trailing California, Missouri, Michigan and Texas, which is getting a whopping $3.31 billion. Nineteen states are receiving allocations of over $1 billion. The funding amounts were primarily determined by looking at the number of unserved locations — those that lack access to internet with sufficient download and upload speeds — in each state or jurisdiction.

Earlier this month, an additional 115,000 homes and businesses in North Carolina were identified as lacking high-speed internet, affecting the funding allocation. At least 1.1 million North Carolina households “lack access to high-speed internet, can’t afford it or do not have the skills needed to take advantage of the digital economy,” according to the North Carolina Department of Information Technology (NCDIT).

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The Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program was approved when the $1 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, was signed into law by Democratic President Joe Biden in 2021. ... “I’m proud to have worked on the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that will deliver more than $1.5 billion to expand access to high-speed internet across the state,” Republican U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, who voted for the law, said in a press release. “This is a game-changing investment that will help bridge the digital divide for North Carolina’s rural communities and deploy the resources that families need and deserve.”

A congressman at the time, North Carolina’s other senator, Ted Budd, had voted against the law, calling it “fatally flawed” and a “liberal trojan horse for a socialist agenda.” Other Republicans, who represented the main opposition to the law, had also complained about the law’s spending priorities and overall price.

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