In NC’s Mountains, broadband isn’t a given

The pandemic — and the lack of broadband infrastructure in some of these areas — has pushed North Carolina’s mountain people to embrace short-term solutions, including Wi-Fi hotspots at library parking lots and grocery stores. At the height of the pandemic, Gov. Roy Cooper even initiated a program that dispatched just under 300 Wi-Fi-enabled school buses to rural communities in need, alongside limited investments in rural infrastructure.

Despite these long-standing issues and the urgency of the pandemic, the spotlight on rural broadband needs is perhaps fading somewhat, said Sarah Thompson, executive director of the Southwestern Commission Council of Governments, a Sylva-based organization that helps internet service providers find the funds for rural broadband.

Nonetheless, the need remains urgent.

“We’ve been beating this drum for years before the pandemic,” Thompson added. “For the people who live in rural communities, the pandemic was an example for everyone else, but we (rural residents) always knew it. I don’t think it’s going away.”

There’s at least some signs that federal and state lawmakers have taken that to heart. President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan — of which North Carolina received $5.7 billion — earmarks significant funds for rural broadband improvements. The state’s exact allocation to the rural broadband infrastructure remains to be determined, but Gov. Cooper said last March that more than $1 billion could be allocated.

Read the entire article here: https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2021/07/07/in-north-carolinas-mountains-broadband-isnt-a-given/