October 27, 2022 – AccessOn announced today that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has awarded the company a grant to provide service to approximately 2,500 homes and businesses in rural Warren and Halifax counties. The grant will allow AccessOn Networks to provide a 100% fiber optic network with speeds of up to 2.5 Gigabits per second to unserved and underserved residents and businesses located in the rural communities around Hollister, Essex, Elberon and Afton.
“High-speed internet in rural communities is foundational to ensuring that the nation’s economy continues to expand from the bottom up and the middle out,” USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack said. “High-speed internet will improve the rural economy. It will help rural businesses grow and get access to new markets. It will help rural residents get access to more and better health care and educational opportunities. USDA knows rural America is America’s backbone, and prosperity here means prosperity for all.”
The announcement was made in the Heavy Equipment and Transport Technology Building on Wake Tech’s Southern Wake Campus. “This USDA investment will have tremendous impact on our neighbors in rural Halifax and Warren counties by providing greater access to connect thousands with high-speed internet, which is so vital in today’s digital world,” said Wake Tech President Dr. Scott Ralls. “It also reinforces the need for education and training for future fiber-optic technicians and grows the region’s economy with workforce development opportunities for local companies like AccessOn.”
“AccessOn Networks is thankful for the opportunity to receive ReConnect funding from the USDA,” said Steve Ledford, AccessOn CEO. “This funding will allow us to help residents and businesses in Warren and Halifax counties that need reliable high-speed internet. We would like to thank the USDA, Congressman Butterfield, the Haliwa-Saponi Tribe, Warren County Manager Vincent Jones and Halifax County Manager Dia Denton, and county commissioners from both Warren and Halifax counties, and all the residents, business owners and community leaders who supported this application. Their support was vital in helping us win this grant funding.”
The network will bring fast, reliable and affordable broadband internet to households, businesses, farms and public schools in support of residents, businesses, education, government, and healthcare in the two counties. Owned by North Carolina’s communications cooperatives, AccessOn is a provider of fiber-based communication services to small cities and towns in rural North Carolina that has been serving rural North Carolina’s communication needs for more than 25 years. This ReConnect grant enables AccessOn to bring their network to an area where these capabilities, speed and reliability have not previously been available.