MCNC finishes $144 million Golden LEAF Rural Broadband Initiative

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., Aug. 12, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- MCNC, the non-profit operator of the North Carolina Research and Education Network (NCREN), today announced the completion of the second and final phase of the $144 million Golden LEAF Rural Broadband Initiative (GLRBI).

The GLRBI is funded through grants from the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration's (NTIA) Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) and significant matching funds from private donations and investments including a $24 million investment from the Golden LEAF Foundation and $10 million from the MCNC Endowment. No state funds were utilized as matching funds for the MCNC awards. Due to added investments from MCNC, more than 100 percent of the project grant value was expended with private-sector companies doing engineering, outside plant equipment, optical gear, and construction, all of which are based in North Carolina or have a significant presence in the state.

Today's celebration event was held simultaneously from four locations in North Carolina (the National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, UNC Charlotte, Elizabeth City State University, and the MCNC campus in Research Triangle Park), showcasing the expanded capabilities NCREN.

This historic project is having a positive impact on student learning, patient outcomes in health care, and is accelerating innovation and research all across the state. Community institutions now being served in the state include K-12 schools, universities, community colleges, health care facilities, public health facilities, libraries, research institutions, and other sectors. MCNC's role in the GLRBI also involves leading discussions with economic developers and private-sector broadband service providers to use the GLRBI fiber to improve broadband access and grow jobs in North Carolina. MCNC has actively engaged more than a dozen entities in these discussions.

NCREN is now a fiber-based network that is more than 2,600 miles spanning the entire state. The first phase of the project was completed in April 2012 with 957 total operated miles (442 of which were new construction). The second phase completed today was much larger with total operated miles at 1,696 (1,300 of being new).

Vendors and contractors for Round 1 included: Fiber Technologies, Globe Communications, Comtech, Cisco Systems, CommScope, and ONUG Communications. Participating vendors and contractors for Round 2 included: BroadPlex, Cisco Systems, CommScope, Comtech, ECC Technologies, Edwards Telecommunications, Fiber Technologies, Globe Communications, Kimley-Horn & Associates, and World Fiber Technologies.

Due to the GLRBI, North Carolina is one of just a handful of states with an open access, middle-mile fiber network available to economic developers, businesses and broadband service providers. Several entities already are accessing GLRBI fiber to enhance broadband availability as an asset to attract job growth in their regions.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 appropriated $7.2 billion to broadband investments. The ARRA directed the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service (RUS) and the U.S. Department of Commerce's NTIA to expand broadband access to unserved and underserved communities, increase jobs, spur investments in technology and infrastructure, and provide long-term economic benefits. The RUS was able to further fund the Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP) while the NTIA created the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP).

Supporting Quotes

"I have long supported the Golden LEAF Rural Broadband Initiative and the work it does to support North Carolina's rural communities. Broadband access is crucial for economic development, access to education, quality health care for families in rural communities. Now that MCNC has completed construction of the GLRBI, I will continue to work with the organization to ensure that robust and future-proof broadband access is available to more and more citizens of North Carolina."

U.S. Senator Kay Hagan (D-NC)

"The Golden LEAF Rural Broadband Initiative is serving schools, community colleges and non-profit health care providers throughout the region. In my role as a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee's Communications and Technology Subcommittee, I learned about the progress of this effort through testimony presented by Joe Freddoso at the hearing outlining his work in North Carolina. I was especially pleased to learn that the project owes its success to collaborations between government, private sector and incumbent stakeholders who might have viewed the project as competition rather than the joint effort it has become. I was also pleased to learn that the project now embraces a self-sustaining business plan. This is a success story, and I am pleased to be here today to see and learn more about its progress."

U.S. Representative Renee Ellmers (R-NC)

"I am proud to have supported the Golden LEAF Rural Broadband Initiative from the beginning. This project included a massive upgrade to the North Carolina Research and Education Network, which researchers have used to create new cures for diseases, improve weather prediction, develop new applications for data analytics, and many other innovations across many fields. This is another example of how strong public-private partnerships, in this case federal investment, coupled with private and foundation funds and the leadership of MCNC, is one of the things that gives North Carolina an advantage over our competitors."

U.S. Representative David Price (D-NC)

"The Golden LEAF Rural Broadband Initiative is an historic investment that will bring much needed, affordable broadband access to the residents of rural and traditionally underserved areas in eastern North Carolina. Without high-speed Internet, many citizens and businesses in this region will not be able to take advantage of innovative technological advances or effectively compete in the new global economy. I would like to congratulate MCNC on completing this project."

U.S. Representative G. K. Butterfield (D-NC)

"The Golden LEAF Rural Broadband Initiative provides more proof that the investments made under NTIA's Broadband Technology Opportunities Program are bringing greatly needed broadband to community anchor institutions in North Carolina and across the country. MCNC has utilized nearly $104 million in broadband grants to provide every school in the state with an available broadband connection of at least 100 Mbps. MCNC has also procured Internet access for all North Carolina schools at a savings of 60 percent over retail rates. I congratulate MCNC and its partners for providing a great demonstration of the benefits of broadband."

Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information and NTIA Administrator Lawrence E. Strickling

"Since the late 1990s, it's been apparent that the availability of broadband infrastructure will be a key component of economic vitality, particularly in rural areas of North Carolina. The Golden LEAF Rural Broadband Initiative provides a 'speed of light' path to the future for communities across North Carolina. The N.C. Department of Commerce is ready to work with public and private partners to help leverage this newly-completed asset."

N.C. Secretary of Commerce Sharon Decker

"In carrying out its three-part mission of teaching, research and outreach, the University of North Carolina is increasingly reliant on technology and broadband infrastructure. These critical upgrades and the expansion of the North Carolina Research and Education Network will help ensure that our UNC campuses have the digital infrastructure required to scale to our future needs. Every sector of education in the state will benefit from this important investment, and I would like to congratulate MCNC on completing the Golden LEAF Rural Broadband Initiative."

University of North Carolina President Tom Ross

"Congratulations to MCNC on completing the second and final phase of the Golden LEAF Rural Broadband Initiative. We are pleased that we have been able to collaborate with MCNC to introduce cutting-edge broadband services to North Carolina, enhancing the economic future of our state and its residents. From day one, our goal, much like MCNC's, has been to work with state and private organizations to level the playing field by bringing superior broadband technology to rural and underserved communities."

Dan Limerick (CEO of RST Fiber)

"CommScope has been involved with this project since the first shovel went into the ground in 2010. We are excited about the successful completion of this important statewide project because it will provide tremendous, long-lasting benefits to our state's residents. CommScope is proud to be part of several broadband initiatives around the country, bringing high-speed networks to rural and underserved communities. MCNC and its efforts to expand the North Carolina Research and Education Network through the Golden LEAF Rural Broadband Initiative is just one great example."

Ric Johnsen (CommScope Senior Vice President of Broadband)

"Over the last five years, Mooresville Graded School District (MGSD) has transformed the teaching and learning experienced in its classrooms; establishing a culture where all children expect to learn and succeed has been the catalyst for this change. These expectations are facilitated via technology-enabled learning, which has played a significant role in MGSD's gains in achievement and graduation rate. The N.C. School Connectivity Initiative has provided a robust, scalable, and efficient path for MGSD's connection to NCREN. This high-speed access has removed any broadband infrastructure barriers and has been a tremendous asset to our students, teachers, and community. Through the collaborative efforts of MCNC and MGSD, the infrastructure has been upgraded three times in five years. From 100 Mbps to 200 Mbps to 500 Mbps, each upgrade has allowed the constantly increasing needs of student and teacher use in the classroom to be met. The completion of the Golden LEAF Rural Broadband Initiative and upgrades to NCREN will help replicate and scale MGSD's model far into the future."

Mooresville Superintendent Dr. Marc Edwards (AASA 2013 Superintendent of the Year)

"Today's health care environment increasingly depends on electronic connections that assure that high-quality care is provided efficiently and effectively at acceptable cost. Accessing remote experts on a moment's notice, sharing information among a patient's physicians quickly and easily, keeping parents up to date on the details of their child's doctor visits, and providing continuing education to North Carolina's health care providers all depend more and more on highly-reliable and high-speed broadband connections provided at an acceptable cost. Meeting this challenge for N.C.'s public health agencies, hospitals, and other public and non-profit health care providers is the mission of the North Carolina TeleHealth Network (NCTN). The Golden LEAF Rural Broadband Initiative provides the NCTN with the essential core resource needed to stitch these providers together into a state-wide broadband network to support the current and future digital medicine needs in North Carolina."

Dr. William F. Pilkington, CEO and Director of Public Health at Cabarrus Health Alliance

"MCNC is pleased to be drawing to a conclusion the construction phase of the project. Over the next several weeks we will continue to fully implement services to the new NCREN backbone serving education, health care and public safety throughout North Carolina. During the last three years, we have been fortunate to have great support from our vendor partners and a very talented internal staff to complete this project on time. In addition, the State of North Carolina and its agencies, particularly NCDOT and NCDENR as well as the North Carolina Congressional Delegation and General Assembly, have been great assets to help us complete this historic work."

Tommy Jacobson, MCNC Chief Operating Officer and NCREN Chief Architect

About MCNC
MCNC is a technology non-profit that builds, owns, and operates the North Carolina Research and Education Network (NCREN). For more than a quarter century, a growing number of research, education, non-profit health care, and other community institutions have connected to NCREN to utilize this leading-edge broadband highway. Today, NCREN serves the broadband infrastructure needs of more than 450 of these institutions including all K-20 public education in North Carolina. The recent expansion of NCREN and its capabilities allows us to customize network services and applications for each of these institutions more than ever before as we also look to further enable private-sector providers to bring cost-effective broadband infrastructure to rural and underserved areas of North Carolina. Our business and partnering strategy gives our state a real competitive advantage and is driving the new broadband economy in North Carolina. Visit www.mcnc.org or follow @MCNC.

Online Resources

• MCNC Website: www.mcnc.org
• MCNC Social:  (Twitter) @MCNC or (Facebook) www.facebook.com/pages/MCNC/129483158385
• GLRBI Social: (Twitter) @GLRBI or (Facebook) www.facebok.com/GLRBI
• Relevant Trending Hashtags: #NTIA #BTOP #GLRBI #ncpol #ARRA #NCREN #Broadband #stimulus
• MCNC Videos on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/MCNCvideos?feature=mhee
• Interactive Progress Map: https://www.mcnc.org/btop/progress/map
• MCNC / GLRBI Central Webspace: https://www.mcnc.org/btop
• Online Round 1 Milestones: https://www.mcnc.org/btop/multimedia/round-1/milestones
• Video (Round 1 Milestones): http://archivedvideo.mcnc.org/BTOP%20Videos/BTOPR1_WRAP_UP_Timeline.mp4
• Watch Video of Round 1: http://archivedvideo.mcnc.org/BTOP%20Videos/BTOPR1_Wrap_Up1.mp4
• New: NTIA BTOP Map: http://www2.ntia.doc.gov/BTOPmap/

Keywords & Tags
MCNC, NCREN, BTOP, ARRA, NTIA, GLRBI, distance learning, community anchor institutions, CAIs, North Carolina, Research Triangle Park, education, telehealth, telecom, broadband, Internet, web, NC events

Editorial Contacts
MCNC Communications Hotline: (919) 248.4105
Noah Garrett, NGC Communications, on behalf of MCNC: (252) 423.1277 or [email protected]

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