The Divide: Nate Denny on the 'billion-dollar mission' to close North Carolina's broadband gaps

This episode features Nate Denny, deputy secretary for broadband and digital equity with the North Carolina Department of Information Technology (NCDIT). The department first kicked off a broadband grant program as a $10 million pilot in 2018. Today, NCDIT has a "billion-dollar mission ... likely to be a $2 billion mission in the near future" to close the digital divide through federal funding, says Denny.

We discuss how funding from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) is helping North Carolina get closer to closing 98% of its digital divide and how the state is spending over $5 million in planning funds in the lead up to getting its full allocation from the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program. We also talk about potential challenges ahead – including problems with broadband mapping, and the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) running dry.

Here are a few topics covered in this episode: