North Carolina is on tap to benefit from $759 million in grants and loans through the U.S. Department of Agriculture that will bring rural communities up to snuff when it comes to such things as high-speed internet.
“Rural communities are the backbone of our nation, but for too long they’ve been left behind and they have been underrecognized,” Mitchell Landrieu, senior advisor of bipartisan infrastructure law, said in a wraltechwire.com report. “We all know how essential the internet is in order to access lifesaving telemedicine, to tap into economic opportunity, to connect with loved ones, to work on precision agriculture and so much more. That’s just beyond unacceptable that that’s not available to rural America.”
This $759 million round of spending is part of a broader $65 billion push for high-speed connectivity from last year’s infrastructure law, and one specific grant is coming to North Carolina.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Landrieu unveiled the grants last week.
North Carolina’s AccessOn Networks is one of the recipients. It will receive $17.5 million to provide broadband service to 100 businesses, 76 farms and 22 educational facilities in the state’s Halifax and Warren counties, two rural and predominantly Black areas of the state.
AccessOn "will make high-speed internet service affordable by participating in the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Lifeline and Affordable Connectivity Programs,” the USDA said. “This project will serve socially vulnerable communities in Halifax and Warren counties and people in the Haliwa-Saponi Tribal Statistical Area."
The announcement comes at a time when North Carolina has an open U.S. Senate seat and officials are trying to sell their achievements to voters before the Nov. 8 midterm elections.
Landrieu said the Biden Administration has already released $180 billion for various infrastructure projects. He added the administration is specifically targeting support for small towns and farm communities, places that generally favor Republicans over Democrats.
Landrieu and Vilisack were in the state to “learn firsthand” from people in North Carolina about the opportunities internet access can create. They also planned to meet with state and local officials, including North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper at representatives from Wake Technical Community College, where they announced the grants.
The pair is also planning on holding a town hall in Elm City. Democrat Cheri Beasley and Republican Ted Budd, were planning to appear at the events. Vilsack said past trips have shown how broadband connectivity is starting to make a difference. In Nevada this summer, he heard from people in the town of Lovelock who said they plan to use the improved internet to enhance their emergency response services and tourism opportunities as well as help high school students who are earning college credit online.