Biden-Harris Administration Awards More Than $6.4 Million to North Carolina in ‘Internet for All’ Planning Grants

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) awards North Carolina with its first “Internet for All” grants for deploying high-speed Internet networks and developing digital skills training programs under the Biden-Harris Administration’s Internet for All initiative. North Carolina is receiving $6,415,614.32 in funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to plan for the deployment and adoption of affordable, equitable, and reliable, high-speed Internet throughout the state.  North Carolina will receive $5 million in Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment grants to fund:

• Increasing capacity of the state broadband office;
• Identification of unserved and underserved locations;
• Improving existing programs of the North Carolina Department of Information Technology;
• Engagements with public and stakeholder input throughout the development of the state's five-year plan;
• Supplementing county government capacity focused on broadband infrastructure and digital equity planning and program delivery.

North Carolina will receive $1,415,614.32 in Digital Equity Act grants to fund:

• Development of a Statewide Digital Equity Plan;
• Creation of a Core Planning Team where at least one member will also serve on the BEAD planning team;
• Deployment of surveys and hosting of listening sessions to understand the barriers faced towards Internet adoption;
• Subgrants to organizations across the state that serve underserved or underrepresented populations.