Planning for the Future

The Completing Access to Broadband (CAB) Program provides an opportunity for individual NC counties to partner with NCDIT to fund broadband deployment projects in unserved areas of each county. N.C. Session Law 2021-180 appropriated $400 million from the American Rescue Plan Act for this new program.  NCDIT and the Broadband Infrastructure Office, in partnership with counties, will develop a competitive process for broadband providers to bid on broadband infrastructure deployments. Participating counties will work with the Broadband Infrastructure Office to mutually identify eligible project areas and develop the scope of work for the procurement of construction, installation and operation of broadband infrastructure in the targeted project areas. 

The CAB Program complements the GREAT Grant program to provide solutions to areas not served by the GREAT Grant. Per legislation, projects applied for and not funded under the GREAT Grant can be considered for funding under the CAB Program.

Learn more about the CAB Program.

Report Your Location

People who do not have broadband coverage should fill out the State Broadband Infrastructure Survey and report their location on the FCC broadband map.  Filling out both surveys will help provide accurate data to help determine where broadband expansion should occur.

State Broadband Infrastructure Survey

The State Broadband Infrastructure Survey is a collaboration between the N.C. Department of Information Technology’s Broadband Infrastructure Office and the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation at NC State University. The survey takes about five minutes to complete and is available in both English and Spanish. Participants are encouraged to also take the optional internet speed test to connect survey data with broadband speed information. 

FCC Broadband Map

The FCC broadband map was created by the Federal Communications Commission to show broadband coverage and availability across the United States. Reporting locations without coverage on the FCC map helps provide data to determine where future broadband funding should go.

The N.C. Department of Information Technology’s Division of Broadband and Digital Equity received$1.4 million in planning funds for the Digital Equity program and $5 million in planning funds for theBroadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program. With these funds, the Division willengage and solicit feedback from a variety of broadband and digital equity stakeholders across thestate that have a vested interest in expanding high-speed internet access and building digital equitywithin the communities they serve, represent, or in which they live. The Division will use data gleanedfrom all outreach efforts to create comprehensive BEAD and Digital Equity program plans to guidesubsequent investments from both programs.

Learn more about BEAD and Digital Equity Planning.