FACT SHEET: President Biden to Announce New Funding to Connect Thousands of Households in North Carolina to High-Speed Internet, Highlight Milestones in Lowering Costs, Expanding Internet Access to Everyone in America

Today, President Biden will travel to the Raleigh-Durham area to announce $82 million in new investments from the American Rescue Plan’s (ARP) Capital Projects Fund to connect an additional 16,000 North Carolina homes and businesses to high-speed internet as part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America agenda. Overall, the Biden-Harris Administration is investing over $3 billion in North Carolina to lower costs for families and connect everyone in the state to affordable, reliable high-speed internet through the American Rescue Plan and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. These investments are creating thousands of good-paying manufacturing and construction jobs in places like North Carolina to produce Made-in-America fiber-optic cable that will build out internet infrastructure across the country. And, because of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Affordable Connectivity Program, 885,000 households in North Carolina are saving money on their internet bills every month.

High-speed internet is no longer a luxury—it is necessary for Americans to participate equally in school, access health care, do their jobs, and stay connected with family and friends. Yet more than 7 million households and small businesses across the country are in areas where there is no high-speed internet infrastructure, and millions more struggle with limited, unreliable, or unaffordable internet options. With $90 billion from President Biden’s American Rescue Plan and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, President Biden and Vice President Harris are closing that digital divide. Through the Affordable Connectivity Program, the Biden-Harris Administration has helped over 22 million Americans save $30-$75 per month on their internet bills. The Administration has called on Congress to extend funding for this bipartisan program, so that millions of families can continue to access affordable high-speed internet.

In North Carolina, President Biden will highlight how the over $3 billion in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and American Rescue Plan funding is helping North Carolina:

• Connect well over 300,000 more homes and businesses to high-speed internet by the end of 2026 through $1 billion in American Rescue Plan funding. Construction on these American Rescue Plan funded projects is beginning or has begun in 90% of North Carolina counties. This includes over $700 million that North Carolina invested in high-speed internet and connectivity through the American Rescue Plan’s State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund. 
• Finish the job by connecting all remaining homes, small businesses, schools, healthcare facilities, and libraries to high-speed internet by the end of 2029 using $1.5 billion in funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s BEAD Program.
• Help 885,000 North Carolina households—about 1 in 5 households in the state—save up to $30/month on their monthly internet bills through the Affordable Connectivity Program. Already, North Carolina families have saved a total of $442 million on their internet bills.
• Spur private sector investment in fiber manufacturing: Thanks to the Biden-Harris Administration’s historic high-speed internet investments and Made-in-America policies that require fiber-optic cable to be manufactured in the United States, CommScope and Corning are investing nearly $550 million combined to build American-made fiber-optic cable, adding hundreds of new jobs in Catawba County. North Carolina is home to two of the largest fiber plants in the world, and is known as the Fiber Capital of America. As a result of these and other investments, Hickory, North Carolina is now producing 40% of the country’s fiber-optic cable.

President Biden will also discuss key progress his Administration has made to meet his goal of connecting every American to high-speed internet by 2030, including:

• Thanks to the Administration’s historic high-speed internet investments and Made-in-America policies, network equipment manufacturers have invested nearly $1 billion across 11 states to expand manufacturing facilities capacity so that fiber optic cable and network electronics get made here in the United States by American workers.
• By the end of December 2023, every state and territory had developed a roadmap for how they will use their share of the $42 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to connect every home and business in their state or territory to affordable, reliable high-speed internet access.
• Through the Affordable Connectivity Program, enacted under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, over 22 million households are saving over $600 million each month on their internet bills.

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