Earlier this month, North Carolina submitted its final proposal to spend $408.5 million in federal funds to extend broadband access to underserved and unserved areas. The plan calls for connecting more than 93,000 homes, businesses, and community centers to high-speed internet by 2030.
The state is also overseeing ongoing American Rescue Plan Act-funded programs meant to bring broadband to another 255,570 properties by 2026, for an investment of $674 million.
“This is the most investment in broadband that we’ve seen in the country, ever,” said Angie Bailey, director of the state’s Broadband Infrastructure Office.
Congress created the $42 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) grant program in 2021, but it’s taken years to get the funds moving. Now the Trump administration’s recent funding shakeups might disrupt if and how those funds are distributed.
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The program has become a “piñata” for critics on both sides of the aisle to illustrate government inefficiency, said Drew Garner, director of policy engagement for the nonprofit Benton Institute for Broadband & Society.
“The new administration fundamentally changed the BEAD program right before states reached the finish line,” Garner said. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which oversees how states spend their BEAD funds, slashed what it called “burdensome” rules in June and ordered states to rework their plans within 90 days to prioritize cost-cutting.
“It’s a challenge for broadband providers to design projects in that timeframe,” said Bailey. “Our role as the state is to invest the money in the best way possible based on the program rules.”
Monthly internet bills tend to be higher in rural parts of the state, where there’s little competition and fewer customers to share infrastructure expenses. It’s often cost-prohibitive for the private market to extend service in these areas.
The previous iteration of BEAD included requirements for awardees to consider disadvantaged populations and ensure low-cost service options were made available. That’s one of the rules the Trump administration has changed. “The main cause of the digital divide is affordability,” Garner said. “BEAD no longer really addresses that.”
Garner said without those rules, BEAD won’t fulfill its original purpose.
Another key change to the program is requiring a “technology neutral” approach, giving low-Earth orbit satellite internet providers like Elon Musk’s Starlink a major boost. Garner said the Trump administration’s reprioritization means fewer fiber or cable providers are bidding against the comparatively cheaper satellite technology in hard-to-reach areas.
While these satellite systems are new and evolving, they are generally weaker than traditional fiber networks. The feds rejected Starlink’s application in 2023 because it couldn’t prove it could meet minimum service requirements. And because the systems rely on radio waves, it “just doesn’t work” in some areas, Garner said.
“We’re saving money by giving people, arguably, an inferior product,” Garner said.
Still, Starlink was crucial last year when Hurricane Helene took much of western North Carolina off the grid. “As a tactical backup system, it’s great,” Garner said. “It can serve areas very quickly, in places that no one else can really access.”
Fiber may cost more upfront, but it’s a “reliable, scalable, future-proof investment,” Garner said. It’s also more affordable for customers on a monthly basis.
North Carolina determined satellite providers can meet minimum standards, but lack scalability, Bailey said. “It’s very new, and so there really is a lot that I think remains to be seen.”
If the Trump administration approves North Carolina’s plan, Amazon’s Kuiper, another satellite provider, will receive $15 million to serve nearly 26,500 customers, predominantly in the west. AT&T is set to receive nine times as much––$142.5 million––to connect roughly half as many locations.
Kuiper’s launched its first batch of satellites in May. Starlink, which would receive $2.5 million under North Carolina’s plan, launched its first satellites in 2019.
Bailey said the state is recommending satellite providers in harder-to-reach areas.
With the new directives, the BEAD program will still have plenty left over. Of the $1.53 billion North Carolina was originally awarded, the state would still have $1.1 billion left that could be used for broadband-adjacent projects, like training or cybersecurity. Rules on how they can be spent are forthcoming.
Johanna F. Still is The Assembly’s Wilmington editor. She previously covered economic development for Greater Wilmington Business Journal and was the assistant editor at Port City Daily.
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