NC Governor Roy Cooper has just declared this week (August 16–20) as “Rural Broadband Week” in order to fight digital inequities across our state.The new proclamation addresses numerous digital inclusion needs and orders the NC Department of Information Technology to detail a plan to expand digital infrastructure, tools and skills in rural areas.
Throughout the week, Gov Cooper and the North Carolina Department of Information Technology (NCDIT) will highlight how increased investments can equitably expand digital infrastructure, tools and skills in rural areas, allowing all North Carolinians to participate in today’s digital economy. Rural Broadband Week celebrates the innovative broadband activities by residents, businesses, nonprofits and governments in rural North Carolina. In rural areas in North Carolina, 33.5 percent of households – a total of 43,000 households – do not have access to infrastructure for broadband speeds of 50/10 Mbps. Rural counties make up 18 of the 20 counties in which more than half of households lack access to 100/10 Mbps internet speeds, which is considered high speed. Gov Cooper’s $1.2 billion Closing the Digital Divide Plan will give 95 percent of households access to broadband of 100/20 Mbps and will address issues of affordability and digital literacy that affect rural counties. Those efforts will be accelerated by NCDIT’s new Office of Digital Equity and Literacy, a first for North Carolina and a first in the nation.
