The North Carolina Department of Information Technology's Broadband Infrastructure Office (BIO) is providing grants to private providers of broadband services to facilitate the deployment of broadband service to unserved areas of the State. The Growing Rural Economies with Access to Technology (GREAT) Program funds eligible projects in economically distressed Tier One counties. A full list of county tiers may be viewed at: https://www.nccommerce.com/research-publications/incentive-reports/county-tier-designations..
An eligible project is a discrete and specific project located in an unserved area of an economically distressed Tier One County seeking to provide broadband service to homes, businesses, and community anchor points not currently served. Eligible projects do not include middle mile, backhaul, and other similar projects not directed at broadband service to end users
None is available.
Unserved Area - A designated geographic area that is presently without access to broadband service, meaning terrestrially deployed Internet access service with transmission speeds of at least 10 Mbps download and at least 1 Mbps upload, offered by a wireline or fixed wireless provider. *See definition for ineligible areas.
Ineligible Areas Areas where a private provider has been designated to receive funds through other State or federally funded programs designed specifically for broadband deployment shall be considered served if such funding is intended to result in construction of broadband in the area within 18 months. Project areas comprised of census blocks, or portions thereof, within which a broadband provider is receiving State or federal matching funds to deploy technologically neutral scalable broadband service within the next 18 months are ineligible for the GREAT Program. Failure on the part of a provider to submit the listing of census blocks to the BIO by the required annual deadlines shall result in those areas being eligible for inclusion under this program during the relevant program year.
Eligible grant recipients are private providers of broadband services, including cooperatively organized entities, or any partnerships formed between cooperatively organized entities, private providers, or any combination thereof. Recipients must operate in a Tier One County of North Carolina. Tier Designations can be found at: https://www.nccommerce.com/research-publications/incentive-reports/county-tier-designations.
Applications were to be submitted by April 4, 2022.
Future deadlines are anticipated but have not yet been announced.
Award amounts vary. A single grant award shall not exceed $2,000,000. The matching funds requirement varies from 35 to 55 percent based on application score.