North Carolina has released its plan for $408 million in grants to expand high-speed internet service to the remaining homes and businesses that don't have access.
The state's Department of Information Technology is seeking public comments and federal approval for its plan for the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment Program, or BEAD. The proposal would serve more than 93,000 homes and businesses.
Until now, all state grants have funded the expansion of broadband fiber infrastructure. But the Trump administration recently changed the rules for the new program, allowing slower satellite and cable internet services to receive grants.
Nearly a third of the funding in North Carolina's plan would go to Elon Musk's Starlink service and a similar service from Amazon that's expected to launch soon.
The satellite grants won't build infrastructure on the ground, and customers will still have to pay for the satellite service and equipment. Starlink is already available in North Carolina, and it's popular in remote areas where faster internet options are limited.
"It's more that we're paying these companies to build in capacity, enough capacity in their satellites to serve these locations, so it's a different type of incentive overall," said Angie Bailey, director of the state's Broadband Infrastructure Office. The satellite grants are directed to locations that broadband providers didn't include in their proposals.
The majority of the BEAD funding, about 68%, would go toward traditional broadband infrastructure expansion provided by companies like Spectrum, Brightspeed and AT&T. The proposal also includes some small grants for coaxial cable internet and fixed wireless.
The Department of Information Technology is asking for feedback on the plan through Thursday, when it will submit the proposal to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration for approval. Once the federal agency signs off, the companies will have until 2030 to provide the service.
The $408 million plan is only a fraction of the total $1.5 billion North Carolina received from the federal government for the BEAD program. Bailey says the NTIA's quick deadlines gave internet providers little time to develop their proposals, and the state is hoping the federal agency will allow it to use the rest of the money in the future.
"Our stance is that we would still like to use the remaining funds for other eligible activities," Bailey said. That could include "redundancy and resiliency work" — creating backup fiber and communications networks to reduce the types of internet outages western North Carolina experienced after Helene — and educational programs like digital skills training.
North Carolina also has about $60 million left to spend in another broadband grant account.
