Rural NC County Struggles With Broadband Deployment
Stanley County, North Carolina, is between two of Google's upcoming gigabit cities, but because of how sparsely populated it is, the county will likely not be the next to receive gigabit service, said a blog post from the Coalition for…
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Local Internet Choice (CLIC) in North Carolina. CLIC says it represents public and private interests that support the authority of local communities to make broadband Internet decisions that are important for economic competitiveness. To keep the county's young people and businesses, county officials need to be creative to develop broadband opportunities without breaking the state law that limits local governments' authority to do so, CLIC said. County officials chose to build rather than lease a public safety tower because "aerial space like that is good real estate for multiple purposes," the CLIC said. Connecting the tower with fiber could provide needed backhaul that would help private carriers and provide leasable connections for a private-sector partner, it said. It will help fill in the region’s middle mile gap, CLIC said.