Broadband connectivity gives a new dynamic in the world in which we live. It’s difficult to even imagine life without high-speed Internet. But for many living in rural North Carolina, dial-up access remains the only affordable and best available option.

Yes, it’s the 21st century and more than 15 percent of North Carolina’s rural population lacks high-speed Internet access, which is defined by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) as a 3 Mbps download speed and 768 kilobyte upload speed.

This staggering number ranks North Carolina 38th nationally in rural broadband availability. If growth in online education, telehealth, and other high-bandwidth services continue, the current FCC standard will seem slow in the next couple of years.

North Carolina is one of 36 states included in the first phase of the FCC’s Connect America Fund (CAF). Formerly branded as the Universal Service Fund (USF) that began in 1997, the CAF replaced the USF earlier this year and includes provisions to subsidize the cost of broadband infrastructure in areas with low population density.

CenturyLink, Frontier Communications, and Windstream are three telcos participating in the CAF in North Carolina, using more than $1 million in federal dollars to help bring high-speed Internet to about 3,600 North Carolinians living in rural areas. The FCC funding will be supplemented by private investments, and all three companies are required to complete two-thirds of the new broadband commitments within two years in areas where no other competition currently exists.

In May 2009, Frontier signed an $8.6 billion agreement with Verizon Communications to acquire Verizon’s 4.8 million landlines leased to residential and small business customers. The deal meant Frontier would acquire all wireline assets in several states, including North Carolina.

Once that acquisition was complete, Frontier began to provide service to 11 counties surrounding Asheville in Western North Carolina. Their business model considers rural communities a “sweet spot” in broadband connectivity services and has increased bandwidth six times from what it was in the region in 2010; creating a much bigger highway of connectivity to better reach the last mile while also leaving room for more expansion in the near future.

Ken Maxwell, Frontier’s general manager for Western North Carolina, said there are two reasons driving broadband expansion for rural customers: 1.There is so many underserved areas in the market, and 2. Existing customers needed more. He explained that the company is being creative to build out a multi-faceted solution that uses all forms of technology available including wireless, DSL, satellite, and more to reach very isolated areas in a bundled fashion.

“You can emotionally justify rural broadband, but at the end of the day, you have to make a business case as well,” Maxwell said.

Maxwell admits the difficulty in reaching everyone with DSL and spoke about a new collaborative effort with HughesNet to package satellite Internet service for customers with the capabilities of having between 5 and 15 Mbps speeds. He said about 70 new customers are now using this service through Frontier since it launched.

Maxwell indicated that Frontier’s CAF work is focused in Graham County, which has one of the highest unemployment rates in the state. They expect to cost-effectively use the federal subsidy to have connectivity in this area by the first quarter of 2013.

High-speed broadband is important in the western part of the state and throughout North Carolina. Western North Carolina currently has about 1,200 manufacturing companies and 300 technology companies in the region. The current broadband efforts by Frontier and others through groups like AdvantageWest has put the area light years ahead of other largely rural regions in the country.