The Vance County Board of Commissioners heard a report from the Technology Committee at its Mar. 7 meeting and entered into a memorandum of understanding with CenturyLink to approve authorizing up to $750,000 in funding to expand broadband capacity across the county.
This action is contingent on a grant application by CenturyLink to get money from the NC GREAT grant partnership. GREAT stands for Growing Rural Economies with Access to Technology.
The memorandum of understanding with CenturyLink would create a partnership that would commit the county to provide 10 percent of the overall project cost – up to $750,000 in ARPA funding – to allow for the addition of approximately 110 miles of fiber lines installed in the county that would be available to 2,261 premises across the county.
The Technology Committee was made aware that $380 million is available for the next round of grant funding; applications are being accepted through April 4, 2022. CenturyLink is scheduled to submit an application before this April deadline.
This county’s contribution would come from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and it would only be contributed if CenturyLink’s grant application is accepted, according to information from the commissioners’ agenda.
Local governments are not eligible to apply for GREAT grants, but they may partner with internet service providers that have an interest in expanding coverage. The maximum grant amount per applicant is $4 million and the maximum amount per county is $8 million.
Charter/Spectrum recently received funding from the federal Rural Digital Opportunities Fund (RDOF), which will allow for broadband improvements in parts of the county over the next few years, the agenda information stated.