Broadband Updates
bridging the rural digital divide in the smokies
High speed broadband access and deployment are finally getting the attention long needed at the federal and state level. The covid pandemic silver lining is the forced and total recognition of the critical importance of high speed, consistent, and affordable broadband internet to every home in America. Since 2020, various federal and state programs are working to provide the funding needed to support deployment in unserved and underserved areas of the country. The Smoky Mountains region of Western North Carolina is one of those areas desperately needing better broadband.
What defines “good” internet?
The FCC current definitions are:
1) Unserved is 25/3 or less. That is 25 megabytes per second download speed, and 3 megabytes per second upload speed.
2) Underserved is 100/20 or less. That is 100 megabytes per second download speed, and 20 megabytes per second upload speed.
The new “future proof” goal is 100/100, by the way.
Both Unserved and Underserved are eligible for state and federal funding for new construction. Fiber to the home is the preferred use of this new money.
Swain Broadband Committee: Commissioners Report -May 7, 2024
The Swain County Broadband Committee provided this May 2024 bi-annual update to Swain County Commissioners on the efforts of the committee, outstanding grants for broadband deployment, and federal and state funding programs.
Stay Informed! Find out what the committee has been doing since Fall of 2023 in our last update. The Zito Media Fiber to the Home deployment is underway, the $4 million CAB Program has launched with Swain County’s RFP out to pre-qualified ISPs, and Marianna Black Library won a $75k grant for deploying Swain County’s Digital Inclusion Plan (DIP).
Swain Broadband committee: commissioners report -October 3, 2023
The Swain County Broadband Committee provided this October 2023 annual update to Swain County Commissioners on the efforts of the committee, outstanding grants for broadband deployment, and federal and state funding programs.
Stay Informed! Find out what the committee has been doing since Fall of 2022 in our last update. Major Federal and State broadband funding programs are underway, and Swain has new broadband deployment projects underway and more coming.
Swain County Digital Inclusion Plan (DIP) and Current Updates
Southwestern Commission (SWC) created this Digital Inclusion Plan (DIP) for Swain County. Having a DIP is required for counties to be eligible for CAB funding. Swain County Broadband Committee shared our county broadband research to SWC to help them understand our county’s significant broadband gaps.
The Southwestern Commission is the regional council of government that covers North Carolina’s 7 westernmost counties, the 17 municipalities therein, and the Qualla Boundary.
Swain Broadband committee: commissioners report -September 8, 2022
The commissioners asked the Swain County Broadband Committee to update them on the efforts of the committee, outstanding grants for broadband deployment, and federal and state funding programs.
Find out what the committee has been doing since 2017, what grants we helped ISPs get for Swain County, maps of finished and future deployment locations, and what the list of broadband funding initiatives is at the federal and state level.
Biden-Harris Administration Announces Timeline for National High-Speed Internet Deployment
November 10, 2022:
NTIA to announce state Internet for All funding allocations by June 30, 2023, using most up-to-date version of FCC’s National Broadband Map
The Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) announced that on November 18 it will unveil an initial version of new broadband maps and open the mapping challenge process…
Read the full press release. All individual and counties must have their challenges in by January 13, 2023 IN ORDER TO COUNT FOR UPDATING THE FCC MAP. After that date, no new non-ISP data will be considered for correcting any maps.
Learn more about the FCC Map project and why it’s so important to get involved.