Removal of Sunset Date for the e-NC Authority: $0
The current sunset date for the e-NC Authority is Dec. 31, 2011. If this occurs, North Carolina would no longer have a designated state authority to carry out legislative mandates related to broadband or advocate for citizens in regard to access. Without the e-NC Authority, the state of North Carolina would also fail to satisfy obligations of a federal broadband development grant from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). This grant is financed by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and runs until Oct. 1, 2014. The success of this and other major ARRA-funded efforts to map, plan and deploy broadband infrastructure requires vigilant oversight from by the e-NC Authority. Without the e-NC Authority, North Carolina would be ill-positioned to obtain additional funding for the mapping or planning portion of this federal grant. Future grant opportunities for broadband will abound, from public, private, state and federal sources. In order for North Carolina to take advantage of these opportunities and move toward ubiquitous Internet access, the e-NC Authority must continue to operate.

Support of Lifeline Online Pilot Program: $0
Access to broadband Internet services should be universally available in North Carolina, but affordability constraints limit access to as many as 500,000 households qualifying for subsidized telephone services administered through the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Lifeline and Link-Up programs. In North Carolina, these programs are a joint federal and state initiative, managed by providers and currently serving over 125,000 qualifying households. The FCC’s National Broadband Plan released in March 2010 calls for expansion of these programs to support broadband access through a Lifeline Online program to be piloted in select states. A directive from the NCGA to the e-NC Authority in support of this effort will better position the state to be selected by the FCC to develop and implement a Lifeline Online pilot program. This would be a budget neutral program.

Operations and Research: $505,000 recurring
To continue the operational, advocacy and research functions mandated by the NCGA, the e-NC Authority must be able to maintain its baseline operating budget of less than $1 million. This state authority, originally funded by a one-time private donation in 2001, is seeking an additional $505,000 recurring to bring its annual recurring appropriation to approximately $980,000. The e-NC Authority cannot adequately provide North Carolina’s 100 counties with the expertise needed in a state broadband authority without this support. This organization’s lean staff of eight highly qualified professionals is the only public resource available to provide hands-on technical assistance to rural and urban communities, promote digital literacy and Web-based applications in education and health and proactively support broadband-enabled business development and entrepreneurship at the seven e-NC Business & Technology Telecenters it established in some of the state’s most distressed regions. This additional investment will deliver a significant positive return to the state’s revenues.

Broadband Expansion – Deployment Incentive Grants: $12.5 million non-recurring
Broadband connectivity is as vital to local economic development and job creation as water, sewer, roads and electricity. Communities that lack adequate broadband access will fail to retain existing business and create new commerce through entrepreneurship – plain and simple. With ARRA funding ($28.2 million awarded to MCNC and three pending requests in excess of $111 million), the state will see significant progress made in deploying the middle mile infrastructure necessary to upgrade access for critical anchor institutions. This deployment, however, will not extend access directly to businesses and citizens. Extending access to underserved businesses and citizens will require some form of alternative public-private investment to deploy the necessary last mile infrastructure. The e-NC Authority is completing a broadband mapping project that will identify, at the census block level, the North Carolina communities that remain underserved. Funds requested from the NCGA would be invested in last mile infrastructure using the e-NC Authority’s proven and accountable grant model of a competitive bidding process with matching funds from bidders.

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