Federal government awards e-NC more than $2M for N.C. broadband efforts
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RALEIGH, N.C. – The e-NC Authority is getting a $2 million lifeline from the federal government.
The non-profit group, which saw its budget cut in half to less than $500,000 for the current fiscal year, was awarded just over $2 million by the federal government on Monday.
The funds, which are coming from the U.S. Department of Commerce, are to be used to develop plans for expanding broadband access in the state where such high-speed services are lacking.
U.S. Senator Kay Hagan announced the funding in Washington.
e-NC had applied for funds to develop a map that better plots availability of broadband. A separate mapping effort was funded by the North Carolina General Assembly.
The funds announced Monday are broken into two parts:
• $1.6 million for the map
• $434,000 for planning.
“This investment in North Carolina will help boost economic development in our rural communities and keep them vibrant,” Hagan said in a statement. “Increasing broadband access means connecting our communities to the world and adding more jobs in our state in this tough economy.”
E-NC, which was chartered by the General Assembly in 2000 to spread broadband across the state, is led by Jane Patterson, longtime science advisor to four-term Gov. Jim Hunt. It has used a variety of funds awarded by MCNC in Research Triangle Park and other sources to incent private broadband providers to extend broadband services into areas that otherwise would not have been covered/
However, the 2009-2010 N.C. budget included no funding for further incentives.
e-NC also has developed and deployed several rural telework centers through which broadband and other support is offered to small businesses and individuals.
“For the citizens and businesses of North Carolina, today’s decision is a tremendous reinforcement of what has been an ongoing and robust effort toward universal broadband,” said e-NC chair Oppie Jordan. “The e-NC Authority is thrilled to serve the citizens of the state in this capacity.”
MCNC is awaiting word, meanwhile, on the application it submitted for $28.1 million in federal funds to expand broadband access by improving and widening its current N.C. Research and Education Network, or NCREN.
Working with private sector partner FRC/PalmettoNet, a provider of fiber network services in the Carolinas, MCNC is seeking the money to add some 600 miles of fiber optic cable to enable high-speed net access in many of the states that have limited or no access to broadband.
MCNC has pledged $4 million from its endowment as well as $3 million in equipment it has already purchased for network expansion toward the effort. FRC/PalmettoNet also has said it will invest $4 million.
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