Haywood outlines broadband buildout progress
Haywood County Community and Economic Development Manager Hannah White used a Jan. 5 presentation to give commissioners a detailed accounting of where broadband access stands today, how far the county has come since the depths of the digital divide were exposed during the COVID-19 pandemic and what work remains before reliable high-speed internet reaches every single household tucked into the county’s ridges, hollers and remote valleys.
SCC makes strides addressing digital divide issues
Over the first eight months of leading the Elevate Digital Collaborative, Southwestern Community College has made significant progress while working with its partners to reduce the digital divide within Jackson, Macon and Swain counties and the Qualla Boundary.
It’s one of nine regional collaborative groups funded by Dogwood Health Trust through its Digital Opportunities Initiative.
359 homes and businesses in Haywood County to receive high-speed internet
The N.C. Department of Information Technology’s Division of Broadband and Digital Opportunity 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.
WNC counties to receive broadband upgrades
The N.C. Department of Information Technology’s (NCDIT) Division of Broadband and Digital Equity posted Completing Access to Broadband (CAB) program scopes of work to expand high-speed internet access to unserved and underserved homes and businesses at approximately 67,724 eligible locations, in several counties, including Haywood, Macon and Swain.
High-speed internet grants awarded in WNC
Western counties receive ‘GREAT’ news on broadband
The latest round of state grants for broadband infrastructure have landed, and represent a big win for six Western North Carolina counties that have been left on the wrong side of the digital divide.
Big money coming for rural broadband
More than a hundred economic development professionals, elected officials, internet service providers and interested parties from across North Carolina’s seven westernmost counties met March 21 in Franklin to acquaint themselves with the ways in which unprecedented amounts of state and federal broadband monies will be used to close the digital divide in rural Appalachia.
Jackson sets aside ARPA funds for internet service
“There is a definite and negative impact to lack of broadband in our community.”
Haywood reboots economic development arm
Unaffordable housing, a lack of broadband infrastructure, a staggeringly low unemployment rate and a relatively high number of job openings have changed the economic development landscape in Haywood County to the point that its chief economic development arm, the Haywood Economic Development Council, must also change.
Broadband a vital factor in Jackson’s growth
Broadband will be an important part of any and all future growth in Jackson County. Now, reliable Wi-Fi is free for all in a large portion of downtown Sylva.
