Understanding Where and How to Support Broadband Adoption in Western North Carolina

Western North Carolina faces challenges with connectivity.

As is the case with much of rural America, Western North Carolina has shortfalls in quality broadband infrastructure—either a lack of wireline service entirely or poor-quality copper-based service, such as digital subscriber line service. These deficiencies in infrastructure, along with affordability of service, contribute to low at-home broadband subscription rates in the region.

A comparison of the 18 Western North Carolina counties that the Blue Ridge Broadband Alliance (BRBA) focuses on shows:

• 84 percent of households in the 18 counties have broadband of any type (which means, for the most part, either a wireline or cellular data plan subscription), compared with 89 percent for the rest of North Carolina counties.
• For wireline subscriptions at home, the gaps are larger. Some 66 percent of those in the 18 counties have subscriptions of this sort, compared with 76 percent for all other North Carolina households.
• Even cellular data plan subscriptions show gaps, with 77 percent of residents in the 18 counties having subscriptions to such service, while that figure is 82 percent for all other North Carolina households.

This research was done on behalf of the Blue Ridge Broadband Alliance, a coalition of community leaders, organizations, and advocates working together to build digital opportunity and access in Western North Carolina.