A Growing Rural Economies with Access to Technology (GREAT) grant is funding a project to provide broadband Internet access to 2,430 homes and businesses in Currituck County.

Brightspeed is utilizing a $4 Million GREAT grant from the North Carolina Department of Information Technology’s Broadband Infrastructure Office to connect 2,314 households and 116 businesses in Currituck County to broadband service. These locations can be viewed in the online map at https://www.nconemap.gov/pages/broadband.

The grant agreement requires that construction begin by April 2024, with 10% of locations completed by October 2024 and 100% of locations completed by April 2025.

The GREAT program, established in 2018, aims to provide broadband access to unserved areas in North Carolina. The Currituck County project was included in a round of grants announced in August 2022 and required a $2.3 Million match, paid by Brightspeed. The project does not require any funding from Currituck County.

Brightspeed has quarterly reporting requirements on its progress to the NC Department of Information Technology. In its most recent update on Dec. 31, 2023, Brightspeed reported that 48% of the project’s network engineering and design work has been completed.