<< Back 12/25/02 WNC gets Internet connectivity grants SMN The Rural Internet Access Authority has decided to provide $3 million for Internet infrastructure projects in Western North Carolina. This $3 million builds on the nearly $7 million already awarded by the authority during July and November 2002 for connectivity projects around the state for a total of approximately $10 million to date. The authority was created by the N.C. General Assembly to spread Internet education and access across the state. The ultimate goal of Internet connectivity projects is to improve the economic prospects and enhance the quality of life of North Carolinians through Internet access and education. The authority’s grant programs are supported through contributions from federal and private sources. Of the 23 Western North Carolina counties, six were served in the previous connectivity incentive grant rounds, and 15 will be served through this latest funding round. Counties served by the $3 million include Alleghany, Ashe, Caldwell, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Jackson, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Swain, Watauga, Wilkes and Yancey. The authority concentrated on specifically addressing the needs of the nine most connectivity challenged counties in the region in this round of grants. These counties are Cherokee, Clay, Jackson, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Graham and Swain. Through its statewide study of high-speed Internet service, which was developed with collaboration from service providers and gauged what cable modem and DSL services were available in North Carolina, the authority determined these Western North Carolina counties had less than 50 percent access to high-speed service and therefore were among the most connectivity challenged in the state. The authority also used the data to rank counties in Western North Carolina according to severity of connectivity needs. Clay, Graham and Swain counties — where virtually zero percent of the county has high-speed access — were found to have the greatest need. Burke County — where 96.46 percent of households have access to high-speed service — was determined to have the highest connectivity ranking in the entire state. The $3 million for Western North Carolina will go to six groups — both public and private — for seven projects in the region. Projects should be underway by the end of first quarter 2003. Award recipients include Advantage West, DukeNet Communications, GetOnThe-Air, Mountain Area Information Network, New River Community Partners, and Verizon. Advantage West’s project collaborators include the Education & Research Consortium and the Western North Carolina Knowledge Coalition. Solution methods include fiber connections between towns, DSL service and wireless service. “We appreciate the authority being sensitive to our needs, listening to the voices of our stakeholders and collaborators, and being willing to make an investment in our region,” said Bill Gibson, executive director of the Southwestern Commission and co-chairman of the Western North Carolina Knowledge Coalition. “Stakeholders are in agreement that Western North Carolina has an extreme need for high-speed connectivity. Southwestern Community College and its president, Cecil Groves, has been active in working toward a solution for a number of years. The Western North Carolina Knowledge Coalition through its Appalachian Access initiative, and, I’m sure, Congressman Taylor and the Education & Research Consortium, look forward to continuing our work on solving connectivity issues in our region by working with Advantage West and the Rural Internet Access Authority.”