A bold plan to connect all North Carolinians to the internet

Long before most of us had even heard the word “COVID,” we were aware of the problem of broadband access in North Carolina. Since the passage of the Growing Rural Economies with Access to Technology (GREAT) Program in 2018, we have been making steady progress in closing the state’s digital divide.

As it did with so many other issues, the pandemic only magnified the need for broadband as nearly everyone relies on internet access for basic functions – including going to work, attending school, accessing medical treatment, and even participating in worship services.

If there was any doubt, it became crystal clear that broadband access is as important as roads and schools. In other words, broadband is essential infrastructure.

Thus, the pandemic has presented us with a huge opportunity to do something about the problem, as it has resulted in hundreds of millions of federal dollars being made available to us through the American Rescue Plan (ARP) passed by Congress back in March.

That’s why the House unanimously approved House Bill 947, “The GREAT Broadband Expansion Act of 2021,” which distributes $750 million with the goal of connecting all of North Carolina to high-speed internet access. This is the largest and most comprehensive effort to expand broadband connectivity to every corner of the state.

This legislation does this by, first, expanding access to the existing GREAT program, under which an internet provider leads a partnership team for grant funding from the state for projects in unserved or underserved rural areas.

Secondly, it creates a new program – which we’re calling the Completing Access to Broadband, or CAB, program – that would let the counties take the lead in determining where those broadband access gaps – or donut holes – are, and then issuing a Request for Proposals for a provider to serve the donut hole.

The CAB would be open to all 100 counties, and they would receive assistance from the North Carolina Department of Information Technology/Broadband Infrastructure Office (NCDIT/BIO) to make sure they weren’t duplicating or overlapping with any of GREAT projects or other federal funded projects.

This makes the most sense because it’s the county that’s most aware of where their service gaps are.

Under the program, counties would be encouraged to use their share of federal ARP dollars to partner with the state to build broadband infrastructure. This has the potential to leverage over $1 billion between state and local funding.

The greatest legacy of the New Deal is the hard infrastructure that was built – the dams, bridges, airports, roads and schools that we can still see across our state today. People believe North Carolina plays a vital role in building the infrastructure that makes it possible for them to work and learn, to live and worship.

In the 21st Century, that means reliable broadband internet access. It may not be as visible as the Blue Ridge Parkway or the Charlotte Airport – which both began as New Deal projects – but it is every bit as important to the health of our economy and the lives of North Carolina citizens.

Long after we have taken off our masks and gone back to our pre-pandemic way of life, I believe people will be benefiting from the investment in broadband from this legislation.

N.C. Rep. Dean Arp (R-Union) is a Senior Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.