Dear friends and partners,
As we near the end of the year, I want to take a moment to reflect on what we’ve accomplished together in 2025. We’ve advocated for critical funding, hosted our first Digital Opportunity Pitch Party, and deepened our understanding of broadband technologies and policy issues. Coalition members have shown up and demonstrated the hard work, creativity, and resilience that make Western North Carolina special.
I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve built together this year, and I can’t wait to continue our mission in 2026.
Warm regards,
Sara Nichols
Blue Ridge Broadband Alliance
In This Edition
Upcoming Meetings
Drew’s Policy Corner
BRBA in 2025: Six Months of Progress
Big Broadband Stories
More News
Upcoming Meetings
- January: Our January meeting will be in-person in Sylva, on a date TBD.
- February & Beyond: We’re working to find a meeting time that works for more members. Keep an eye out for a poll to share which times work best for you!
Drew’s Policy Corner
Happy Holidays!
BEAD is moving forward. In some positive news, NTIA recently approved 29/50 state plans, allowing BEAD deployment to finally begin. North Carolina’s plan is still pending, but we hope to see it approved soon. Additionally, the bipartisan pressure for “non-deployment” funds seems to be working, with NTIA now indicating that it may, in fact, release that $20 billion pool of funds (including over $1 billion for NC). Many BRBA members have participated in non-deployment advocacy and, while the issue is far from settled, this is a hopeful sign.
We’ll keep you posted, and see you in 2026!
BRBA in 2025: 6 Months of Progress
The Blue Ridge Broadband Alliance (BRBA) launched in June of 2025 with a clear goal: to make sure no one in Western North Carolina (WNC) is left on the wrong side of the digital divide. As the nation and state invest billions in broadband infrastructure, local coordination and community voice have never been more important. In just six months, the BRBA has brought together leaders, industry experts, public officials, and passionate members of the WNC community to learn, collaborate, and advocate for the region’s needs.
Six Months of Shared Learning
BRBA’s monthly meetings have become a space for stakeholders to learn from experts—and each other—about the issues that matter in our quickly moving broadband landscape. These meetings have brought together county officials, municipalities, nonprofits, libraries, schools, internet service providers, and community organizations to understand the broader context and specific issues influencing universal connectivity in WNC. Some of the topics BRBA members have learned about over the past six months include:
- Low-Earth orbit technology from Doug Dawson of CCG Consulting
- The broadband policy landscape from Pew Charitable Trust’s Sophia Bock and Sarah Ali
- Broadband technologies from Tom Reid of Reid Consulting
- Broadband affordability from former White House Senior Advisor Jordan Arnold and Mission Telecom’s Matthew Roclevitch
Translating Knowledge Into Action
BRBA members didn’t just learn together in 2025; they spoke up together. As federal and state broadband policies shifted throughout the year, BRBA organized two sign-on letters to ensure that Western North Carolina’s concerns were heard by decision-makers.
- The first letter urged North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson to lead or join a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s unconstitutional cancellation of the $2.75 billion Digital Equity Act. North Carolina’s $45 million Digital Equity Act allocation included several million dollars earmarked for specific Western North Carolina digital opportunity projects.
- A second letter focused on the implementation of North Carolina’s Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program plan. As the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) began requiring states to significantly revise their plans, the letter urged NTIA to approve North Carolina’s Final Proposal without further changes.
Combined, these two letters yielded over 250 signatures from local government officials, community organizations, educational institutions, businesses, and residents across the state. The response demonstrated that stakeholders in WNC and beyond are ready and willing to advocate for their communities’ needs.
Celebrating the Community
In October, the Alliance hosted its inaugural in-person event, the Digital Opportunity Pitch Party. The Pitch Party brought together Alliance members, policymakers, practitioners, and telecommunications industry experts at Devil’s Foot Brewing in Asheville for an exciting morning showcasing creative local solutions to bridge the digital divide.
Four organizations competed for funding and support by pitching their digital opportunity projects to a panel of judges consisting of Jess Epsten from the Institute for Emerging Issues, Jess George from GFiber, Amy Huffman from the National Digital Inclusion Alliance, and Maggie Woods, Director of the North Carolina Office of Digital Opportunity.
- Susan Toole from Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College presented a pilot program to provide device lending and support to students in need.
- Charles Long and Bob Williams from Swift App School pitched their new Residential App Camp launching at UNC Asheville in the summer of 2026, offering coding education and scholarships to underserved youth.
- Yvette Brooks from Through the Trees described the Tech Spa in Transylvania County, where people receive one-on-one help using or repairing their devices through a model that emphasizes individualized support.
- Brian Scott from OurJourney presented Re-Entry Kits for formerly incarcerated women, providing technology and resources during the reentry process to reduce recidivism.
Along with the judges, the audience participated in evaluating the pitches based on clarity of vision, community focus, need and impact, credibility, and potential leverage.
OurJourney won the first-place prize: $4,000 and a free ticket to Net Inclusion 2026. OurJourney will use the funding to launch a women’s version of its Digital Opportunity First Aid Reentry Kit, which includes supplies, resources, and a smartphone with 90 days of free unlimited service. All pitchers received cash prizes, discounted Net Inclusion tickets, and ongoing support from WestNGN Broadband.
Between the pitches and awards, attendees enjoyed a fireside chat between Gigi Sohn, Senior Fellow and Public Advocate at the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, and Jennifer Epperson, Deputy General Counsel for the North Carolina Office of the Governor. The two discussed BEAD Program changes, their impact on North Carolina’s broadband infrastructure deployment, and the crucial role of advocacy in the digital opportunity sphere.
Moving Forward, Together
In 2025, the Blue Ridge Broadband Alliance convened practitioners, policymakers, and dedicated stakeholders committed to ensuring that Western North Carolina doesn’t get left behind.
As we move into 2026, the work continues. The broadband landscape continues to shift, and BEAD plan implementation will begin. But the foundation BRBA has built—bringing together local knowledge, fostering collaboration, and amplifying community voices—means we’ll be ready for whatever comes next.
By Zoë Walker
Big Broadband Stories
ISPs Need to Tackle Digital Inclusion | CCG Consulting | Doug Dawson | December 3, 2025
It’s clear that federal funding for digital inclusion activities is dead. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the White House killed the funding for the Digital Equity Act, and it’s looking increasingly certain that NTIA is going to kill most or all of the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program non-deployment funds. These two sources of funding were going to be used to get a lot of computers and devices into the hands of people who need them and train millions of people to better use broadband. Both of these efforts were going to benefit internet service providers in a big way. Numerous studies have shown that once people buy a broadband subscription, they work hard to keep it. Broadband subscriptions are anti-recessionary, and people will ditch other expenses in their life before cancelling a broadband subscription. I think it’s in the best interest of ISPs to step into the federal funding void to help tackle this issue.
Governor Josh Stein Announces $50 Million BIn the path of Hurricane Helene: FirstNet aids responders during response and recovery | FirstNet Authority | November 19, 2025
When Hurricane Helene ripped through the southeast United States in late 2024, it caused widespread devastation. Communities faced powerful winds, flooding, and infrastructure damage that stretched across multiple states. Yet amid the destruction, public safety sprang into action to protect lives and restore community services quickly and safely. From the field to 9-1-1 call centers, public safety agencies turned to FirstNet to help maintain critical communications when traditional infrastructure was destroyed by the storm. Public safety in Tennessee and North Carolina relied on FirstNet resiliency and redundancy during the hurricane and in the days that followed. In North Carolina, Hurricane Helene put pressure on Public Safety Answering Points in the western part of the state, which saw a surge in 9-1-1 calls. From September 26-28, when the hurricane was most devastating, North Carolina emergency telecommunicators answered nearly 90,000 calls—a 55 percent increase compared to the same period the year before. Since 2023, the North Carolina 9-1-1 Board has worked in partnership with AT&T and the FirstNet Authority to build a highly resilient IP-based network called ESInet. ESInet is a closed private network for 9-1-1 traffic only; FirstNet provides redundant connectivity for ESInet. This system-wide redundancy ensured North Carolinians could still reach help when they needed it most.
North Carolina Sets its Digital Skills Standards | Benton Institute for Broadband & Society | Grace Tepper | October 24, 2025
The North Carolina Department of Information Technology’s (NCDIT) Office of Digital Opportunity is defining what it means to be digitally prepared. Recognizing that digital access alone is not enough, NCDIT released its North Carolina Digital Skills Standards, a statewide framework that identifies the essential knowledge and abilities residents need to engage in civic, economic, and social life. Together, NCDIT’s six Digital Skills Standards outline the essential skills, knowledge and learning residents need to be fully engaged in digital life in North Carolina.
- Digital Identity
- Digital Wellbeing
- Digital Relationships
- Digital Safety
- Digital Reasoning
- Digital Futures
More News
In North Carolina, Graham County sees a fiber future, but digital skills funding is in doubt | Connect Humanity
North Carolina becomes latest state to offer residents help with online skills | Stateline