Raleigh, NC – Governor Cooper announced this week that North Carolina Broadband Cooperative Coalition members, Zirrus and RiverStreet Networks, were selected to receive grant awards from the Growing Rural Economies with Access to Technology (GREAT) Program. Zirrus won a total of $11 million in grant funds to serve unserved portions of Davie, Iredell, Rowan and Yadkin counties. RiverStreet Networks won a $3 million-dollar grant to serve unserved portions of Stokes County. Combined, the grants will allow these two companies to bring high-speed internet to serve more than 5,000 underserved homes and businesses.
“We are excited to see Zirrus and RiverStreet Networks included in this latest announcement for the GREAT Grant awards,” commented Dwight Allen, Executive Vice President of CarolinaLink. “CarolinaLink member companies are passionate about investing in rural communities and creating opportunities for connection through access to high-speed internet.”
To date, CarolinaLink members have collectively won more than $30 million through the state’s broadband grant program to expand rural broadband service.Six of the seven CarolinaLink broadband companies submitted applications either through the cooperative or a subsidiary in this year’s NC GREAT Grant Program in hopes to serve nearly 30,000 households in rural counties across North Carolina. FOCUS Broadband, Randolph Communications, RiverStreet Networks, Star Communications, Surry Communications, and Zirrus, applied for a total of $113,432,686 million dollars in projects that would touch 25 counties across the state. Additional GREAT grants are expected to be awarded in the coming weeks.
CarolinaLink members currently serve over 150,000 rural homes and businesses in North Carolina and are committed to expanding broadband service to unserved and underserved communities throughout the state. CarolinaLink members serve residents and businesses in thirty counties throughout the state and employee more than1,000 North Carolinians.
For more information about CarolinaLink and their members, visit www.carolinalink.org.