North Carolina Governor Cooper Announces First Round of Completing Access to Broadband Awards to Expand Internet Access in 14 Counties

North Carolina’s first Completing Access to Broadband (CAB) program. It will connect 6,012 households and 164 businesses in 14 counties to high-speed internet. The CAB program, administered by the NC Department of Information Technology (NCDIT), complements the state’s Growing Rural Economies with Access to Technology (GREAT) grant program to reach additional unserved areas. Like GREAT grant awardees, all CAB program grantees must participate in the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which provides eligible low-income households a $30 per month discount on high-speed internet service, or provide access to a comparable low-cost program. CAB program applicants must also 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. Awardees include:

• Alexander County: Spectrum Southeast LLC (Charter Communications)
• Franklin County: Spectrum Southeast LLC (Charter Communications)
• Granville County: Spectrum Southeast LLC (Charter Communications)
• Haywood County: Spectrum Southeast LLC (Charter Communications)
• Hertford County: Roanoke Connect Holdings (FYBE)
• Madison County: Skyrunner Inc.
• Mitchell County: French Broad Electric Membership Corp. (French Broad Fiber)
• Onslow County: Spectrum Southeast LLC (Charter Communications)
• Robeson County: Spectrum Southeast LLC (Charter Communications)
• Rutherford County: Bellsouth Telecommunications LLC (AT&T)
• Sampson County: Spectrum Southeast LLC (Charter Communications)
• Stokes County: Surry Telephone Membership Corp.
• Vance County: Zitel LLC
• Wilkes County: Wilkes Communications Inc.