At least two newspaper pieces -- an article and an editorial -- this week touted the positive change
HB 431 FIBER NC Act would bring North Carolina and communities in need of adequate, business-strengthening internet service. "Rural communities need broadband. Our legislators need to make this a priority," stated a
Wilmington Star-News editorial about the bill, which has a mass of sponsors from both major parties and, this month,
won a committee approval after supporters argued that rural communities are falling behind economically and educationally without adequate broadband connections. The legislation would better enable local governments to partner with private internet services providers in arrangements that could include building out local fiber networks and then leasing that fiber to the private providers. The Smoky Mountain News also examined the bill this week, with a
lengthy article quoting legislators from the area, including
Rep. Kevin Corbin, one of the bill's sponsors. "We’ve gotten it through one committee and it’s been in about every news outlet in North Carolina," he told the newspaper, "so the push is out there, the publicity is out there...." Visit
nclm.org/broadband for information including a report on closing North Carolina's digital divide.
