Hagan follows through with funding for rural broadband expansion

During her campaign in 2008, Kay Hagan traveled to rural areas of the state and held kitchen table discussions with residents of those counties to discuss the need for broadband expansion. Yesterday she announced that North Carolina would get a little over $2 million to expand broadband to underserved areas of this state.

“This investment in North Carolina will help boost economic development in our rural communities and keep them vibrant,” said Hagan. “Increasing broadband access means connecting our communities to the world and adding more jobs in our state in this tough economy.”

I organized one of these kitchen table discussions for then candidate Kay Hagan. A neighbor, who raises chickens and cattle held the event at his home. We were trying to get about 12-15 people in rural Union County to attend. There were more than 30 people eager to speak with Kay about everything from broadband to roads.

Russell and his wife run a large farming/ranching/poultry business and had three high school students all using dial-up internet. I've mentioned before that my home is one of the last that Time Warner Cable extended service to in my area. Russell's family lives less than a mile down the road. I have two teen daughters, one who uses her computer to take AP courses through North Carolina Virtual Classroom, and I can't imagine having three students trying to do homework using dial-up to access the internet. The lack of broadband access makes it that much harder for rural businesses and students to compete.

North Carolina is one of the first states to receive funds intended for broadband expansion from the U.S. Department of Commerce. The money is made available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. This is welcome news.

“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. The e-NC Authority is thrilled to serve the citizens of the state in this capacity,” said Oppie Jordan, Chair of the e-NC Authority.

Obviously, $2 million is a drop in the bucket, but it will allow the process of mapping broadband availability and planning the expansion to begin.