Skywave GREAT Grant Projects 2019-2022

The NC GREAT Grant program was a pilot program in 2019. Local broadband provider Skywave applied with the encouragement and support of the Swain Broadband Committee and Southwestern Commission. Skywave won a grant in 2019 and again in 2020 when the GREAT grant program went from pilot to established by the North Carolina government. All deployments were for fixed wireless broadband. Fixed wireless broadband is a point to point solution using a tower that is supplied with high speed fiber internet, that beams a direct signal to a receiver dish at the installed location (household, business, etc.). It requires a direct line of sight to the tower. Fixed wireless can also be successfully beamed from an installed location to a neighboring location that does not have direct line of sight. Note: Skywave was acquired by Balsam West in 2022.

What does GREAT stand for? The Growing Rural Economies with Access to Technology (GREAT) Program funds the terrestrial deployment of broadband within unserved areas of economically distressed counties.