Gov. Bev Perdue stopped off in CommScope’s Hickory headquarters Friday for the ceremonial groundbreaking on a $145 million project to beef up high-speed broadband Internet connections for North Carolina’s poorest counties.
The North Carolina Research and Education Network (NCREN) project entails the installation of about 440 miles of fiber optic cables from Winston-Salem to Asheville and from Rocky Mount to Greenville. Once installed, the project will serve as the backbone to connect the state’s hospitals, schools, libraries and government centers, Perdue said.
CommScope will provide the cable while three other companies collaborate to design the project, install the cable and splice the connections across the state.
“This is vital if I’m going to be able to level the playing field for children in poor northeast and southwest school systems,” Perdue said. “This network is changing the possibilities for our children.”
Once all work is complete, NCREN has the potential to reach more than 300,000 underserved families, serve more than 180,000 businesses and connect 1,500 anchor institutions like schools, libraries and hospitals.
The $145 million is from federal and private sources. No state funds were used in the project.
* $75.75 million is from the U.S. Department of Commerce;
* $28.2 million is from American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009;
* $24 million is from the Golden LEAF Foundation Board of Directors;
* $16.95 million was raised by MCNC (Microelectronics Center of North Carolina) through private sources, including $4 million from the MCNC’s endowment;
CommScope CEO, Chairman and Founder Frank Drendel said that, although the contract is a boon for his company, it will not create additional jobs.
“Every bit of business helps,” he said. “Clearly this is a wonderful opportunity, but it will not add any new jobs.”
Perdue took the long view and said she thinks access to high-speed broadband Internet connections in parts of the state that have never had it will provide entrepreneurial opportunity.
“This will allow a kitchen table inventor to take his product to the international marketplace,” she said. “It means 21st-century access for our people. This won’t connect every home, but we’re well on our way.”
Perdue said this is the latest step in the state’s transition from an economy dependent on tobacco, textiles and manufacturing to a technologically based economy.
“We are embarking on a public-private partnership that will literally change the way North Carolina communicates with the rest of the world,” she said. “From the mountains to the coast, broadband access is a difference-maker for rural North Carolina. And, it’s a great example of how our state is leading America’s recovery.”
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