Patrick Groves
Inside North Carolina’s Push to Close Rural Broadband Gaps
Caught in the crossfire of continued budget negotiations between North Carolina’s General Assembly and Gov Roy Cooper (D-NC) is the expansion of a program funding last-mile broadband infrastructure in the state. Cooper vetoed the budget passed by the Legislature in June. The grant program is one of many facets in the Broadband Infrastructure Office’s (BIO) mission to facilitate high-speed Internet access statewide by June 2021.
Freshly Inked Deal to Provide Rural Delaware with Broadband
Delaware offcials and wireless network company Bloosurf have signed a deal expand broadband access in the state. The Delaware Department of Technology and Information (DTI) estimates about 127,000 homes and businesses will benefit from the three-stage project. The state will pay $2 million to add routers at 14 Internet towers and for new fiber-optic lines in Kent and Sussex counties.