NC fiber network provider MCNC lands $11M+ in federal funding

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – MCNC, the Triangle-based operator of the NCREN broadband network that spans much of North Carolina, has landed more than $11 million in expansion funds from the federal government.

The funds were awarded through the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration as part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Internet for All initiative.

The money will add internet infrastructure in Cabarrus, Lee, Harnett, Cumberland, Sampson, Duplin, Onslow, Forsyth, Davidson, Rowan, and Stanly.

NCREN, or the North Carolina Research and Education Network, has over the years built a fiber-optic network with substantial federal support.

Funding is to be used for so-called “middle mile” infrastructure to improve data delivery speed, network resiliency, and to expand reach of networks.

The MCNC grant is one of 35 projects funded in $930 million of High-speed Economies for Rural Opportunity (HERO) project recipients announced on Friday. 

“The HERO project will enable affordable, high-performance broadband in substantially unserved areas of North Carolina and provide significantly improved network reliability, resiliency, and latency. Last mile service providers can leverage the proposed 209-mile fiber route through 11 counties by building laterals to both residential and commercial customers, as well as to their own aggregation facilities, from hand holes placed 2,500 feet or less apart along the proposed route. In addition, three new telecommunications huts will facilitate lighting the proposed fiber routes and provide network connectivity services with increased reliability and resiliency, as well as physical co-location services to customers,” the National Telecommunications and Information Administration said.

MCNC, which operates statewide fiber network, ‘fully’ supports Internet for All initiative

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