Raleigh, NC – Governor Roy Cooper announced last week that CarolinaLink members, Wilkes Communications and Surry Communications, were recipients in the state’s first round of Completing Access to Broadband (CAB) program awards. With these awards, the cooperatives will bring fiber optic high-speed internet to underserved areas in Wilkes and Stokes counties.
Administered by the N.C. Department of Information Technology (NCDIT), the CAB program supplements the Growing Rural Economies with Access to Technology (GREAT) Grant program in its efforts to expand high-speed internet service to more unserved and underserved areas in North Carolina.
In the announcement, Governor Cooper stated that the CAB program awards would help connect 6,012 households and 164 businesses in 14 counties with reliable, high-speed internet. These awards add to the nearly $348 million in GREAT grants awarded in 2022 and 2023 to bring internet access to 144,046 North Carolina households and businesses.
“These awards will help ensure that more North Carolinians can access affordable and reliable high-speed internet to participate in today’s digital world,” said Governor Cooper. “We will continue to collaborate with county leaders and all grantees to close our state’s digital divide.”
To date, CarolinaLink members have collectively won more than $69 million through the state’s broadband grant program to expand rural broadband service.CarolinaLink members currently serve over 175,000 rural homes and businesses in North Carolina and are committed to expanding broadband service to unserved and underserved communities throughout the state.