Thirty-Seven More NC Counties to Receive Expanded High-Speed Internet Access

The N.C. Department of Information Technology’s (NCDIT) Division of Broadband and Digital Equity today posted Completing Access to Broadband (CAB) program scopes of work to expand high-speed internet access to unserved and underserved homes and businesses at approximately 67,724 eligible locations in the following counties:

Avery County (507 locations)	Lee County (2,191 locations)
Beaufort County (414 locations)	Macon County (3,367 locations)
Buncombe County (1,807 locations)	Martin County (457 locations)
Burke County (2,450 locations)	McDowell County (2,083 locations)
Cabarrus County (2,097 locations)	Nash County (6,711 locations)
Caldwell County (1,556 locations)	Northampton County (317 locations)
Caswell County (883 locations)	Pamlico County (153 locations)
Chatham County (3,829 locations)	Pasquotank County (96 locations)
Chowan County (176 locations)	Perquimans County (116 locations)
Cleveland County (2,354 locations)	Person County (2,181 locations)
Cumberland County (732 locations)	Pitt County (560 locations)
Edgecombe County (1970 locations)	Polk County (380 locations)
Franklin County (2,549 locations)	Rockingham County (1,504 locations)
Granville County (2,316 locations)	Stanly County (3,568 locations)
Halifax County (2,851 locations)	Swain County (1,192 locations)
Harnett County (3,731 locations)	Union County (4,112 locations)
Haywood County (1,310 locations)	Wake County (1,157 locations)
Henderson County (4,713 locations)	Warren County (1,172 locations)
Jones County (162 locations)

The division posted 53 additional CAB program scopes of work on Nov. 26 to serve approximately 93,674 eligible locations and previously awarded nearly $118 million to fund CAB projects in 44 counties, bringing high-speed internet to almost 47,000 homes and businesses.

Internet service providers that are prequalified to participate in state broadband expansion programs may submit proposals to provide broadband to all or a portion of eligible locations within each county.

This public-private partnership will help achieve Governor Roy Cooper’s goal to close the digital divide and ensure more North Carolinians can access affordable and reliable high-speed internet. Funds come from the Biden-Harris administration’s American Rescue Plan.

The CAB program creates a partnership among state government, county leaders and internet service providers to identify eligible project areas, develop the scope of work and fund broadband deployment projects with $400 million from the American Rescue Plan. With N.C. Session Law 2024-55 enacted Nov. 20, counties are no longer required to provide matching funds for CAB program projects.

Each county’s scope of work will be posted Dec. 10 - Feb. 17, 2025, at ncbroadband.gov/active-cab-proposals and will include the evaluation criteria by which an internet service provider will be chosen and the instructions for submitting proposals. A map of each county’s eligible locations is located on NC One Map’s CAB Planning Tool. Internet service providers may submit protests to identify locations they already serve Dec. 2 - Dec. 13 for all participating counties.

For more information about the NCDIT Division of Broadband and Digital Equity, please visit ncbroadband.gov.