North Carolina’s Broadband, Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program will launch a challenge process to determine locations that are eligible for BEAD funding on Sept. 3. 

Local governments, tribal governments, nonprofit organizations and broadband service providers can issue challenges based on the most recent data reported by the Federal Communications Commission in December 2023. 

North Carolina has 236,000 unserved and 150,000 underserved locations in need of broadband access. The state is set to receive $1.5 billion from the federal government for broadband deployment. 

“It’s really important to us that we have the most accurate data possible,” Emily Gangi, policy director for the Division of Broadband and Digital Equity for the North Carolina Department of Information Technology, said during a quarterly BEAD update on Tuesday. “This is a way for eligible challengers and stakeholders to submit challenges to the mapping data that is available and help us make sure that we have the best maps possible.”

A rebuttal phase will open Oct. 15 through Nov. 14 for the submitted challenges. The Department of Information Technology will conduct a final determination phase from November to December, during which the department will sustain or reject all received challenges and rebuttals and submit the data to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. 

The pre-qualification process portal for internet service providers that wish to bid on BEAD-funded projects will also open in September, according to Gangi. 

“We feel confident, based on the $1.5 billion that North Carolina is going to receive from BEAD funding, that we’ll be able to achieve both of those two primary goals],” Gangi said of providing access to the unserved and underserved areas. 

A third aim of the funding will allocate money to community anchor institutions where people access the internet, such as schools, libraries and health care centers. The Department of Information Technology has compiled a list of 10,000 organizations that meet that criteria.

The state submitted a BEAD five-year strategic plan to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration last year, and it was approved in August 2023. “By 2025, North Carolina plans to become a national leader, ranking in the top five states for high-speed internet adoption,” the plan states.

Maggie Woods, deputy director of the Office of Digital Equity and Literacy, said the Department of Information Technology has developed a “robust” database compiling all the state’s resources, programs and projects focused on digital inclusion, such as public computer labs or sites that offer digital literacy training. 

“We hope that it’s a way to be able to connect with programs and resources within your own community,” Woods said. “We’ve heard over and over again that people don’t know what’s happening within their own counties and they want to connect with folks.”

The interactive database is expected to be released in October.

For questions or comments, or to pass along story ideas, please write to Matthew Sasser at [email protected] or contact the NC Insider at [email protected] or @StateAffairsNC 

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