Spectrum grant bringing high-speed internet to New Hanover County homes, small businesses

NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — Spectrum has been awarded a $228,784 grant to bring gigabit high-speed internet access to 105 homes and small businesses in New Hanover County.

The recent grant, combined with $187,187 from Spectrum, brings the total project investment to more than $415,000.

The Growing Rural Economies with Access to Technology (GREAT) Program grant is one of nine already awarded to Spectrum to expand fiber-optic broadband infrastructure to areas of the state that currently lack access to high-speed connections.

The company is awaiting review of 51 additional GREAT proposals that, if awarded, would bring broadband access to an additional 71,000 homes and small businesses in 60 counties across North Carolina, which has the second-largest rural population of any state.

“All North Carolina communities, families and businesses need access to reliable and affordable high-speed internet,” Governor Roy Cooper said. “This round of grants means more North Carolinians will be able to take advantage of opportunities to learn, work, access health care and connect to the world.”

Spectrum is already North Carolina’s largest broadband provider, serving 2.8 million customers and employing nearly 11,000 residents in the state.

GREAT Program grants further expand Spectrum’s rural construction initiative, the centerpiece of which is the company’s approximately $5 billion investment in unserved rural communities, which includes more than $1 billion won in the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) auction.

The company’s RDOF expansion will provide broadband access to approximately 1 million customer locations as estimated by the FCC across 24 states — including more than 125,000 locations in North Carolina — in the coming years. Combined, Spectrum’s GREAT Program grant and RDOF buildouts in New Hanover County will connect 175 homes and small businesses.