CLINTON – Efforts to bring faster Internet access to more areas of North Carolina are getting a $23.7 million boost from the federal government.
A fiber-to-the-home network with 100 megabit or faster capable speeds will be built in Clinton, through the Star Telephone Membership Corporation, with the U.S. Department of Agriculture providing $23.7 million. The company has offices in Clinton and Elizabethtown.
The company offers a variety of services, including Internet, digital TV, digital phone and security. Its coverage area includes 1,458-square miles in Bladen, Sampson, Duplin, Columbus, and Cumberland Counties.
The grant awarded through the USDA’s ReConnect Program will help create a network that links nearl 8,800 homes as well as multiple businesses, educational institutions and community facilities, the USDA said.
Governor Roy Cooper has appointed a group, the Task Force on Connecting North Carolina, that is focused on tackling some of the barriers contributing to North Carolina’s digital divide which exisits primarily between availability of broadband in metro areas and lack thereof in rural areas. But another challenge is lack of usage by users who could get broadband but choose not to do so.
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Despite the fact that around 94.8 percent of North Carolinians have access to high-speed internet, only 59.4 percent of households adopt it, according to the Federal Communications Commission.
The federal government also provided funds to help build the statewide North Carolina Research and Education Network, which is operated by MCNC.
Funds through the USDA program “enable the federal government to partner with the private sector and rural communities to build modern broadband infrastructure in areas with insufficient internet service. Insufficient service is defined as connection speeds of less than 10 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload,” the USDA said.
USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development Donald “DJ” LaVoy announced announced the grant.
“Our core mission at USDA is to increase rural prosperity, and this mission cannot be achieved without addressing the digital divide our rural communities face due to a lack of high-speed broadband internet connection,” LaVoy said in a statement.
“Under the leadership of President Trump and Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, USDA is committed to being a strong partner to rural communities in deploying this critical infrastructure, because we know when rural America thrives, all of America thrives.”
Digital divide persists in NC despite broadband availability; task force seeks to drive up usage
