Share
RALEIGH Millions of dollars in federal aid may not be enough to extend high-speed Internet access to the remotest and poorest areas of the state.
Universal broadband access is a goal of the federal stimulus package, which provides $7.2 billion to cover 80 percent of the cost of installing fiber-optic cable and necessary equipment.
But the expansion of high-speed Internet remains an elusive objective in North Carolina, despite keen interest by state officials for telecommunications companies to get their share of the federal funds.
Lawmakers angled Thursday for the federal financing with the unveiling of a statewide mapping project that shows 92 percent of households have broadband access already. Creating such a map is a prerequisite for phone and cable providers to qualify for the stimulus funds.
Still, even with generous discounts, telecommunications companies have been reluctant to install cable and gear in areas where few customers are likely to subscribe to the faster and more expensive Internet service. With an Aug. 14 application deadline approaching, AT&T and Time Warner, for example, have still not decided whether they will seek federal stimulus funds.
“These are the more challenged areas if you base it on income levels and demographics,” said Jack Stanley, Time Warner's regional vice president of government affairs. “It's sparsely populated, and the potential for us to get customers is very low.”
The map, created by a telecom consortium called Connected Nation, includes data from 35 Internet service providers. It shows that faster Internet speeds are spotty in the state's western and eastern regions and along the state's northern rim.
Areas limited to slow dial-up connection speeds are seen as being further behind in competing for new businesses and in job creation.
The map also shows areas with Wi-Fi access and those with mobile high-speed access. The online map can zero in on neighborhood blocks and is searchable by home address.
The project has been a year in the making as competing telecom firms sought guarantees from Connected Nation that the precise location of equipment and other sensitive information would remain confidential.
In past years, the Internet service providers had reluctantly provided information to the e-NC Authority, an agency established in 2000 to track Internet access. But after the industry itself created Connected Nation, many telecoms stopped providing data to e-NC.
A half-dozen legislators were on hand Thursday for a public demonstration of Connected Nation's online map in Raleigh.
Rep. Bill Faison, a Democrat representing Caswell and Orange counties, said that the 92 percent penetration rate seemed high. The General Assembly's staff will work on verifying the information, he said.
Even a heavily discounted expansion project can be a financial drain on a company if it fails to sign up enough customers, Time Warner's Stanley said. Broadband Internet networks demand ongoing expenses for equipment maintenance, vehicles, pole rental, electricity and labor.
Since January 2008, e-NC has awarded $2.1 million to Embarq and Verizon for broadband expansion in 10 counties which have the lowest rates of Internet access. Those grants required a 50 percent match from the companies.
In some counties, fewer than half the households have access to high-speed Internet service.
“One of the most frequent constituent complaints we get is that they do not have that access,” said Speaker of the House Rep. Joe Hackney, a Democrat who represents Chatham, Moore and Orange counties.
The federal stimulus funds pay not only for expanding high-speed Internet access but also for upgrading broadband speeds in areas with basic speeds and few subscribers.
“What we're aiming for is to make sure every nook and cranny of North Carolina has not only access but competition,” said Rep. Kelly Alexander Jr., a Democrat who represents Mecklenburg County.
