What are the impacts of the GREAT grant program and how could NCDIT enhance the program?

The mission of the NC Department of Information Technology (NCDIT) is to enable trusted business-driven solutions that meet the needs of North Carolinians. NCDIT provides technology services to state agencies and is charged with closing the digital divide by expanding availability of broadband services and promoting the adoption of affordable, high-speed internet.

The NCDIT Division of Broadband and Digital Equity is responsible for expanding access to broadband infrastructure, supporting affordability, advancing digital literacy and building digital equity in North Carolina. The Division includes two offices, the Broadband Infrastructure Office (BIO) and the Office of Digital Equity and Literacy (ODEL), charged with ensuring that every North Carolinian has access to an affordable, high-speed internet connection. The goals of the Division are to ensure that, by 2025, 98 percent of households have broadband internet access, 80 percent of households subscribe to broadband internet, and 100 percent of households with children subscribe to broadband internet.

NCDIT BIO serves as a statewide resource for broadband expansion and first-responder communications. NCDIT BIO works collaboratively with state, federal, local, private and nonprofit partners to draw attention to the digital divide in the state and work to close the gap by administering broadband grant programs, facilitating partnerships with broadband providers, gathering data to identify unserved and underserved areas, and providing policy and technical guidance to local and state leaders. One of the key programs operated by NCDIT BIO is the Growing Rural Economies with Access to Technology (GREAT) Grant Program designed to provide grants to private providers of broadband services to facilitate the deployment of broadband service to unserved areas of North Carolina.

The GREAT Grant Program aims to provide matching grants to private providers of broadband services and electric membership cooperatives to facilitate the deployment of broadband services to areas of the state unserved with broadband. The GREAT Grant program is a competitive grant program established under S.L. 2018-52, codified as a matching grant program in N.C.G.S. § 143B-13733, and amended by S.L. 2019-2304, S.L. 2020-975, and S.L. 2021-180.6 The program provides grants for eligible projects in eligible economically distressed counties. Partnership with a county is not required but is encouraged, and rewarded, with extra points during the application review process.