When the Blue Ridge Broadband Alliance (BRBA) launched in July 2025, momentum was not on its side. The previous five years had been a time of immense growth in the broadband and digital opportunity space. The COVID-19 pandemic thrust the digital divide into the spotlight, and stories of students doing homework in fast food parking lots made it clear that something needed to be done. State and federal agencies began prioritizing broadband access and expansion, and in 2021, Congress passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, creating several programs to close the digital divide, including the Digital Equity Act (DEA) and the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) programs.

State and local governments, community organizations, and advocates got to work. North Carolina’s Department of Information Technology conducted a statewide listening tour, collected over 6,000 survey responses, and developed a comprehensive strategy to ensure all residents would have the access and skills they need to fully participate in the digital world.

However, in May of 2025, President Trump announced the abrupt cancellation of Digital Equity Act programs, cutting $2.69 billion in funding for promoting safe, effective use of broadband and connected technologies. North Carolina alone lost $45 million. In Western North Carolina, the Land of Sky Regional Council and its partners faced losing a $7 million DEA Competitive Grant. Meanwhile, the new leaders of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration were restructuring the BEAD Program and, on June 6, 2025, announced changes that left communities uncertain about which connectivity investments would materialize and when.

For Western North Carolina (WNC), these were not abstract policy issues. Less than a year earlier, Hurricane Helene had torn through the region, damaging more than 1,700 miles of fiber, leaving 75 percent of cell sites without service, and destroying thousands of devices, teaching a shocking lesson about what happens when a community gets disconnected. Just a few months into the recovery process, WNC needed stability and assistance. Instead, it faced policy shakeups and funding losses.

In this environment, the BRBA first assembled.

Launch

In July 2025, the newly formed Blue Ridge Broadband Alliance met for the first time via Zoom. Early meetings of the alliance served the important purpose of educating new members, who came from a variety of backgrounds and different levels of understanding of broadband and digital opportunity policy issues. They featured presentations breaking down complex policy and technology topics so that members across the region could engage not just as observers, but as informed advocates.

That investment paid off early. Within two months of its inception, BRBA had gathered more than 140 signatures from across the state on an advocacy letter urging North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson to lead or join a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's unconstitutional cancellation of the DEA.

Building Momentum

BRBA’s work soon expanded. In October, the coalition held its first in-person event: a Digital Opportunity Pitch Party in Asheville. Four organizations pitched their ideas for innovative digital opportunity projects to a panel of judges and gathered members. OurJourney won $4,000 to launch Women’s First Aid Reentry Kits, which provide resources, including a phone and service, to help women reconnect after being released from prison. More than a competition, the event established the coalition as one that invests in and elevates homegrown solutions.

BRBA’s education efforts continued to pay off. In October, the coalition sent another letter, this one urging NTIA to approve North Carolina’s final BEAD plan without further changes or delays. This brought the combined sign-ons to advocacy letters to over 250 organizations and individuals. Each letter represented what the coalition had been building towards from the beginning: a region that understood what it needed and could speak with one cohesive voice.

Hitting Our Stride

The first half of 2026 has brought broader recognition and advocacy.

The first two in-person coalition events of the year—Fiber in the Mountains in Sylva in January, and Closing the WNC Device Divide in Spruce Pine in April—brought the coalition's in-person presence to communities across the broader mountain region it serves and gathered engaged crowds despite an ice storm in January and wildfire in April. In June, BRBA leader Sara Nichols spoke on a panel at the BrAIn Hub AI Summit at UNC Asheville, representing the coalition and region’s voice in a conversation that will impact equity and economic mobility in rural communities like those across WNC.

In April, when Governor Josh Stein announced that North Carolina had received federal approval to launch its BEAD program, unlocking $319 million for broadband infrastructure across the state, Nichols offered BRBA's response in the Governor's official press release—a marker of how far the coalition's standing had come in less than a year.

Beyond Raleigh, the BRBA voice has reached DC. In March, the coalition submitted formal comments to NTIA on BEAD non-deployment funds, and in May, BRBA submitted written testimony to the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies opposing further attempts to impound or rescind DEA funding.

In June, BRBA member Yvette Brooks, founder of Brevard’s Through the Trees, traveled to DC as part of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance's Connectivity Policy Corps. There, she met with congressional offices, including Senator Ted Budd's, advocating alongside colleagues from other device refurbishment nonprofits for DEA funding, Lifeline modernization, and the same BEAD non-deployment funds the coalition submitted comments on months earlier.

At the state and national levels, BRBA is making sure the WNC perspective is in the rooms where decisions are made.

Moving Forward

As BRBA enters its second year, the policy landscape is still unsettled. BEAD construction has started across the nation, and North Carolina is moving toward implementing its plan. But internet service providers have already backed out in many states, and more are expected to follow. Timelines for the non-deployment guidance to be published have come and gone without any further details, and DEA funding remains frozen while it is contested in court.

Still, BRBA is responding to uncertainty with practicality and action. Earlier this year, the coalition conducted a needs assessment survey to better understand where members are now and what they need to keep moving forward. Those results are helping guide the coalition's plans for next year to ensure BRBA priorities align with members’ priorities. The June 2026 meeting focused on funding shortfalls, one of the top member priorities identified through the survey.

Despite the uncertainty, BRBA is continuing to grow and support its membership. The July 16 in–person event in Asheville will preview new research resources from the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, debut WestNGN’s new digital opportunity game, and keep collaborating and planning for the future.

A year in, the coalition is diverse, informed, and growing louder.

To learn more about the Blue Ridge Broadband Alliance visit blueridgebroadband.org.

The Benton Institute for Broadband & Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring that all people in the U.S. have access to competitive, High-Performance Broadband regardless of where they live or who they are. We believe communication policy - rooted in the values of access, equity, and diversity - has the power to deliver new opportunities and strengthen communities.

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Broadband Delivers Opportunities and Strengthens Communities