Lumos is extending its service further into North Carolina by becoming the first fiber provider for Burlington, North Carolina, and surrounding communities, thanks to a combination of Lumos’ investment and grant funding through the N.C. GREAT Program.
The service provider’s fiber network will bring high-speed internet service to residents and small businesses. In all, Lumos will expand its service to nearly 40,000 people in Alamance County.
Brian Stading, CEO of Lumos, said the latest launch in Burlington is part of an ongoing effort to extend fiber-based broadband into communities with traditionally limited connectivity options. “Today’s launch represents our ongoing commitment to bridge the digital divide and will revolutionize how the Burlington community experiences the internet,” he said. “We look forward to working with our federal, state, and local partners to continue this expansion in the months and years to come."
Its move to extend fiber broadband services to Burlington, North Carolina, has gotten the attention of the White House and North Carolina’s governor Roy Cooper.
"President Biden understands that high-speed internet is necessary to work, learn, and play in today’s digital landscape. That’s why the Biden-Harris Administration is investing more than $2.8 billion to ensure communities and families in North Carolina have access to high-speed internet," said Asad Ramzanali, Chief of Staff for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, who attended and spoke at the event as part of the Biden Administration’s “Investing in America” tour.
N.C. Governor Roy Cooper agreed and added that Lumos and the state can work together to “ensure that every North Carolinian has the tools they need to succeed in our increasingly digital society."
Mixing public, private funding
As Lumos has done with other new broadband projects, a big focus of the Burlington build-out is for it to leverage a mix of public and private funding to reach more communities in its growing footprint.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law signed into law by President Biden includes $65 billion for high-speed internet access and affordability, including funding for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program and the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). In June 2023, the U.S. Department of Commerce awarded N.C. nearly $1.5 billion for high-speed internet infrastructure in BEAD funds.
That program follows other investments, including the American Rescue Plan Act's Capital Projects Fund and others that have been incorporated into N.C.’s GREAT Program, which funds high-speed internet service to underserved areas. These funds, combined with the ACP and private investments from companies like Lumos, will help bring benefits to more residents in N.C. and across the country.
The ACP “helps households pay their internet bills [and] we are excited that Lumos is part of this program,” said Ramzanali, praising the company’s provision of a low-cost, high-speed internet service offering for eligible households.
Continued fiber expansions
While Lumos’ move to bring service to Burlington, NC, is its latest fiber broadband target, it’s only one of several it is doing. The provider is also conducting fiber builds in other parts of North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. It currently provides services to nearly 200,000 homes and businesses across North Carolina and Virginia.
In 2023 alone, the company announced multiple new market expansions, including those in Johnston, Harnett, New Hanover County, N.C., and Spartanburg and Richland County, S.C.
Likewise, Lumos is making progress in extending service in Virginia. Earlier this year, the telco received franchise approvals from the cities of Chesapeake, Portsmouth and Virginia Beach and is expanding service to Hampton Roads, Virginia.
It was equally as active in 2022. The service provider added more fiber locations in other locations throughout Virginia and North Carolina.
