FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. – The N.C. Department of Information Technology’s (NCDIT) Division of Broadband and Digital Equity announced on July 1 an additional $112 million in Completing Access to Broadband (CAB) program projects designed to connect 25,903 households and businesses to high-speed internet in 19 counties across the state, including Cumberland County.
The projects will be funded by more than $61 million from the federal American Rescue Plan awarded to the State, more than $25 million from counties and nearly $26 million from selected broadband providers.
In Cumberland County, NCDIT announced two awards for projects by Connect Holding II, LLC (Brightspeed) and StarVision, Inc., which will have a total project cost of approximately $6.9 million and provide high-speed internet access to 1,692 locations, or approximately 74% of the county’s 2,286 locations that were eligible under the program. Based on their proposals, Connect Holding will provide access to 1,398 locations at a total project cost of $5,769,671; and StarVision will provide access to 294 locations at a total cost of $1,133,110. Under the current CAB program, Cumberland County will provide approximately $2,416,000 in matching funds from the county’s federal ARPA award.
The CAB program’s procurement process creates a partnership between counties and NCDIT to identify areas that need access, solicit proposals from prequalified internet service providers and quickly make awards. Awardees must agree to provide high-speed service that reliably meets or exceeds speeds of 100 Mbps download and 100 Mbps upload.
“Access to reliable broadband is crucial for our residents as they navigate today’s digital society. Cumberland County is pleased that through the Completing Access to Broadband program, we can partner with the state and service providers to reach 74% of locations in our county that are considered unserved. This is a tremendous step forward,” said Cumberland County Board of Commissioners Chairman Glenn Adams.
“We are excited so many counties and internet service providers have partnered with us on the CAB program,” said NCDIT Deputy Secretary for Broadband and Digital Equity Nate Denny. “These awarded projects will help us make significant progress on closing the state’s digital divide.”
The NCDIT announcement is available here.