The state of North Carolina has awarded a total of $10 million in funding to Brightspeed, Charter and local company NfinityLink Communications (also known as InfinityLink Communications) to cover some of the costs of broadband deployments in unserved and underserved rural areas.
The state did not disclose the amount of funding that each company won. But Charter won funding for three counties, Brightspeed won funding for two counties and NfinityLink won funding for a single county.
The awards were made through the state’s Growing Rural Economies with Access to Technology (GREAT) grant program. They come just shortly after the state awarded $51 million through a different rural broadband funding program known as Completing Access to Broadband (CAB).
Charter and Brightspeed won funding in that round of the CAB program as well, along with Windstream and several local providers. The state did not divulge amounts won by provider in that program either, but Brightspeed said its awards totaled $22.5 million.
Brightspeed is the company that bought Lumen operations in 20 states.
NfinityLink is a local company founded in 2014.
The awards were made through the Division of Broadband and Digital Equity of North Carolina Department of Information Technology (NCDIT).
“We are continuing to partner with counties and internet service providers on broadband expansion so more North Carolinians can access crucial online resources,” said NCDIT Deputy Secretary for Broadband and Digital Equity Nate Denny in a prepared statement. “The awarded projects will provide high-speed internet access to residents in these counties by Oct. 31, 2026.”
Additional information about North Carolina broadband, including links to state funding resources, awards made, state specific Telecompetitor coverage and more, can be found on the Broadband Nation webpage for the state.
