The N.C. Department of Information Technology’s Division of Broadband and Digital Opportunity today announced a $1.2 million Completing Access to Broadband (CAB) program fiber project to connect 359 households and businesses in Haywood County to high-speed internet. This project will be funded by more than $850,000 from the federal American Rescue Plan awarded by NCDIT and nearly $365,000 from the selected broadband provider:
- Haywood County: Skyrunner, Inc. This award will provide high-speed internet access to 359 locations (27.24% of the county’s 1,318 eligible locations).
“We are excited to continue bringing projects for high-speed internet access to counties in western North Carolina,” said NCDIT Secretary and State Chief Information Officer Teena Piccione. “This award demonstrates the importance of partnering with counties, internet service providers and the state’s mapping experts to close the digital divide.”
NCDIT announced the award during the 2025 North Carolina Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Conference in Winston-Salem to highlight the significant role mapping plays in both the state’s emergency response efforts for Hurricane Helene and in closing North Carolina’s digital divide.
The CAB program’s procurement process creates a partnership between counties and NCDIT to identify areas that need access, solicit proposals from prequalified internet service providers and quickly make awards. Awardees must agree to provide high-speed service that reliably meets or exceeds speeds of 100 Mbps download and 100 Mbps upload.
This CAB program award will be added in April to NCDIT’s dashboards that show details and progress on programs funded by the federal American Rescue Plan Act as part of Governor Josh Stein’s initiative to close the state's digital divide. The award adds to the nearly $515 million in Growing Rural Economies with Access to Technology (GREAT) grants and previous CAB projects that will connect nearly 190,000 North Carolina households and businesses to high-speed internet.
For more information about the NCDIT Division of Broadband and Digital Opportunity, visit ncbroadband.gov.