Rural northern Buncombe County is the first area in the county to see the result of the American Rescue Plan Act’s quest to expand reliable broadband access. Buncombe is one of 81 NC counties that have received state funding to improve internet service.
According to data presented by Tim Love, Buncombe’s director of economic development and governmental relations, the county’s poverty rate went up from about 11.5% in 2018 — its lowest point in a decade — to about 13.9% in 2020, the latest year for which information was available. Poverty in both North Carolina and the overall U.S. fell over the same period.
Madison County’s ARPA manager says his job could wind down soon based on most uses of ARPA funds, but using them for broadband complicates things.
Many areas of rural mountains in NC have limited internet access or people are forced to rely on satellites. Infusion of funds may change that.
Chief among the issues facing the General Assembly next year, said Sen. Chuck Edwards, would be balancing the state’s next budget to reflect pandemic-driven downturns in revenue. He estimated that the shortfall compared to current spending levels could be as much as $8 billion.
“Often we can reach folks better through technology than we can face to face,” says Shane Lunsford of the Center for Psychiatry and Mental Wellness. As telehealth service offerings and technological capabilities expand, providers around the region are excited about the possibilities of new models of seeing patients and providing care.
Like 40 percent of rural U.S. households, many Sandy Mush residents in northwest Buncombe County can’t get Internet service that meets the Federal Communications Commission’s current definition of broadband.
Legislation that would have limited local governments’ ability to build and operate their own municipal broadband networks was finally defeated before the General Assembly adjourned for the year.
