DIT Agency Broadband Bill.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
H 1
HOUSE BILL 838

Short Title: DIT Agency Broadband Bill. (Public)
Sponsors: Representatives Johnson, Pickett, and K. Hall (Primary Sponsors).
For a complete list of sponsors, refer to the North Carolina General Assembly web site.
Referred to: Appropriations, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House
April 10, 2025
*H838-v-1*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT TO MAKE VARIO US CHANGES RELATED T O BROADBAND LAWS WIT H 2
THE DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY. 3
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 4
5
PART I. SATELLITE BROADBAND GRANTS 6
SECTION 1.1. G.S. 143B-1373.2 is repealed. 7
SECTION 1.2. G.S. 143B-1374 is repealed. 8
SECTION 1.3.(a) The Department of Information Technology shall use funds 9
appropriated for the Growing Rural Economies with Access to Technology program for fixed 10
wireless and satellite broadband grants, establishe d in G.S. 143B-1373.2, to award grants to 11
eligible entities to purchase installation materials for satellite internet service and for the 12
provision of satellite internet service for a period of up to one year. Installation materials and 13
internet service must be for the grantee's own use and not for distribution to other parties. The 14
Department shall prioritize grant applicants that operate in one of the 39 counties designated as 15
a disaster area due to Hurricane Helene. The Department may also give priority to grantees that 16
offer emergency services, disaster relief, educational services, or economic development. 17
SECTION 1.3.(b) For the purposes of this section, an eligible entity is one of the 18
following: 19
(1) A State agency. 20
(2) A local government entity. 21
(3) An internet service provider. 22
(4) A nonprofit organization. 23
24
PART II. REPURPOSE BROADBAND FUNDING FOR DISASTER RELIEF FUNDING 25
SECTION 2.1.(a) The Department of Information Technology may provide 26
emergency funding to communications service providers, as t hat term is defined in Section 27
38.10(j) of S.L. 2021 -180, to rebuild, repair, replace, and harden broadband infrastructure 28
damaged by Hurricane Helene, including reimbursement of costs already incurred for rebuilding, 29
repairing, replacing, and hardening br oadband infrastructure, provided that all of the following 30
apply: 31
(1) An applicant for funding under this section shall only be permitted to recover 32
costs that are not subject to reimbursement from another source of external 33
funding, including insurance. 34
General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 2 House Bill 838-First Edition
(2) The Department may cap reimbursement at a portion of the costs incurred 1
based upon evaluation of considerations such as the number of applications 2
anticipated compared to funds available. 3
(3) Priority shall be given to restoration of broadband service. 4
SECTION 2.1.(b) The Department may use up to fifty million dollars ($50,000,000) 5
of the funds available from the Broadband Make Ready Accelerator appropriation in S.L. 6
2021-180. Funds shall be used in compliance with applicable federal guidelines associat ed with 7
the use of federal funds. The Department may use its emergency procurement authority provided 8
in 09 NCAC 06B .1302 to procure any goods or services in accordance with this section and shall 9
document the request for funding, the emergency situation or need, the area to be served, and the 10
community's need for the procurement. 11
12
PART III. CHANGES TO THE BROADBAND POLE REPLACEMENT PROGRAM 13
SECTION 3.1. Section 38.10 of S.L. 2021-180 reads as rewritten: 14
"BROADBAND ACCELERATION 15
… 16
"SECTION 38.10.(b) The Broadband Pole Replacement Program (hereinafter "Program") 17
is hereby established for the purpose of speeding and facilitating the deployment of broadband 18
service to individuals, businesses, agricultural operations, and community access points in 19
unserved areas by reimbursing a portion of eligible pole replacement costs incurred by 20
communications service providers. A communications service provider who pays or incurs the 21
costs of removing and replacing an existing pole pole, or placing facilities underground to better 22
protect the critical infrastructure from natural disasters, in connection with a qualified project 23
may apply to the Department for reimbursement in an amount equal to fifty percent (50%) of 24
eligible pole replacement costs paid or incurred by the applicant or ten thousand dollars 25
($10,000), whichever is less, for each pole replaced.replaced or, in the case of placing facilities 26
underground, fifty percent (50%) of such costs. 27
… 28
"SECTION 38.10.(g) A pole owner shall promptly review a request for access, perform 29
surveys, provide estimates and final invoices, and complete, or require the completion by other 30
attaching entities of, any make-ready work necessary for purposes of offering broadband service 31
in an unserved area. A pole owner shall prov ide a good-faith estimate for any make-ready costs 32
to the communications service provider within 60 days after receipt of a complete application for 33
access. If requested by the communications service provider, the pole owner shall provide 34
accompanying docu mentation indicating the basis of all estimated fees or other charges, 35
including, but not limited to, administrative costs, that form the basis of its estimate. A good-faith 36
estimate shall remain valid for 14 days. To accept a good -faith estimate, a commun ications 37
service provider must provide the pole owner with written acceptance and payment of the 38
good-faith estimate. Make -ready work shall be conditioned upon payment of the good -faith 39
estimate and shall be completed within a reasonable time frame mutuall y agreed to by the 40
communications service provider and the pole owner. A pole owner may treat multiple requests 41
from a single communications service provider as one application for access when the requests 42
are filed within 90 days of one another. A pole owner may deviate from the time limits specified 43
in this subsection during performance of make -ready work for good and sufficient cause that 44
renders it infeasible to complete make -ready work within the time limits specified in this 45
subsection. Any deviation from the time limits specified in this subsection shall extend for a 46
period no longer than necessary. A communications service provider shall promptly be notified, 47
in writing, of the reason for a deviation and the new completion date estimate. A communications 48
service provider shall provide notice, in writing, to the pole owner no later than 14 days after 49
attaching equipment to a pole in an unserved area. This subsection shall not apply to poles owned 50
by a utility. 51
General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
House Bill 838-First Edition Page 3
"SECTION 38.10.(h) A party subject to a dispute arising under subsection (g) of this section 1
may invoke the dispute procedures authorized in G.S. 62-350 in the same manner as a party 2
seeking resolution of a dispute under G.S. 62-350(c), and the Utilities Commission shall issue a 3
final order resolving the dispute within 120 days of the date the proceedings were initiated; 4
provided, however, the Commission may extend the time for issuance of a final order for good 5
cause and with the agreement of all parties. In such a dispute , the Commission shall apply the 6
provisions of this section notwithstanding any contrary provisions of any existing agreement. 7
This subsection shall not apply to poles owned by a utility. 8
"SECTION 38.10.(i) No later than 60 days after the date funds are a ppropriated to the 9
Program special fund, and on a quarterly basis thereafter, the Department shall maintain and 10
publish on its website all of the following: 11
(1) The number of applications for reimbursement received, processed, and 12
rejected, including the reasons applications were rejected. 13
(2) The amount of each reimbursement, the total number of reimbursements, and 14
the status of any pending reimbursements. 15
(3) The estimated remaining balance in the Program special fund. 16
"SECTION 38.10.(j) The following definitions apply in this section: 17
… 18
(4) Eligible pole replacement cost. – The actual and reasonable costs paid or 19
incurred by a party after June 1, 2021, to (i) remove and replace a pole, 20
including the amount of any expenditures to remove and dispose of the 21
existing pole, purchase and install a replacement pole, and transfer any 22
existing facilities to the new pole. pole or (ii) place facilities, including lines, 23
conduit, and related equipment, underground to better protect the critical 24
infrastructure from natural disaster. The term includes costs paid or incurred 25
by the party responsible for the costs of a pole replacement to reimburse the 26
party that performs the pole replacement. The term does not include costs that 27
the party incurs initially that have been reimbursed to the party by another 28
party ultimately responsible for the costs. 29
(5) Pole. – Any pole used, wholly or partly, for any wire communications or 30
electric distribution, irrespective of who owns or operates the pole.pole, 31
including poles owned by a utility. 32
(6) Pole owner. – A city or cooperatively organized entity that owns utility poles. 33
(7) Qualified project. – A project undertaken by a communications service 34
provider that is not affiliated with a pole owner seeking to provide or, due to 35
natural disaster or other force majeure event, restore , temporarily or 36
permanently, qualifying internet access service on a retail basis to one or more 37
households, businesses, agricultural operations, or community access points 38
in an unserved or underserved area. The project may be affiliated with a 39
cooperatively organized entity that owns utility poles but shall not be affiliated 40
with a city that owns utility poles. A pole owner whose affiliate seeks 41
reimbursement for a qualified project shall not pass through the costs for 42
which reimbursement is sought to unaffiliated communications service 43
providers and shall schedule and perform all work in a nondiscriminat ory 44
fashion. 45
… 46
(9) Unserved area. – An area in which, according to the most recent map of fixed 47
broadband i nternet access service made available by the Federal 48
Communications Commission, fixed, terrestrial broadband service at speeds 49
of at least 25 megabits per second download and at least 3 megabits per second 50
upload is unavailable at the time the communicatio ns service provider 51
General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 4 House Bill 838-First Edition
requests access. An unserved area also includes an area that was previously 1
served but has become unserved due to damage or destruction by a natural 2
disaster. A pole or underground installation shall be presumed to be located in 3
an unserved area if the pole is located in an area that is the subject of a federal 4
or State grant to deploy broadband service, the conditions of which limit the 5
availability of a grant to unserved areas.areas or, in the case of a damaged or 6
destroyed facility, w as in such an area when the facility was originally 7
constructed. 8
(10) Utility. – As defined by 47 U.S.C. § 224. 9
…." 10
SECTION 3.2. This Part is effective when it becomes law. Funds encumbered for 11
expenses incurred under this Part as of June 1, 2021, prior to the effective date of this Part shall 12
remain eligible for reimbursement. 13
14
PART IV. FUNDING FLEXIBILITY 15
SECTION 4.1. Section 38.15 of S.L. 2021 -180, as enacted by Section 16.1(a) of 16
S.L. 2022-6, reads as rewritten: 17
"SECTION 38.15. Except as otherwise provided, provided and after the intent of the original 18
appropriation has been satisfied to the extent practicable, the Department of Information 19
Technology shall have flexibility to transfer funding between the programs outlined in Section 20
38.4, Section 38.5, and Section 38.6 38.6, and Sections 38.10(b) through (k) of this act, so long 21
as the total allocations for the programs remain the same.act." 22
23
PART V. LIFELINE SERVICE PROVIDERS 24
SECTION 5.1. Article 3 of Chapter 62 of the General Statutes is amended by adding 25
a new section to read: 26
"§ 62-30.1. Designating telecommunications carriers; rules. 27
(a) Notwithstanding G.S. 62-3(23)j. or G.S. 62-30, the Utilities Commission may, solely 28
upon petition of any provider or reseller of mobile radio communications service, designate the 29
petitioning provider or reseller of mobile radio communications service as an eligible 30
telecommunications carrier pursuant to 47 C.F.R. § 54.201 for purposes of providing Lifeline 31
service. The Commission may adopt rules to effectuate the purposes of this section. 32
(b) Nothing in this section shall confer upon the Utilities C ommission any regulatory 33
jurisdiction over providers or resellers of mobile radio communications service that have been 34
previously designated as eligible telecommunications carriers for purposes of providing Lifeline 35
service prior to the enactment of this section." 36
37
PART VI. EFFECTIVE DATE 38
SECTION 6.1. Except as otherwise provided, this act is effective when it becomes 39
law. 40