An excerpt from Lightwave + BTR's weekly column, Building Broadband
(May 1, 2025) – Ripple Fiber has received $4 million in federal funding for its Harnett County, North Carolina project through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and North Carolina’s Growing Rural Economies with Access to Technology (GREAT) Grant program – a program locally led by the Broadband Infrastructure Office of the N.C. Department of Information Technology (NCDIT). This project will bring fiber internet to 856 unserved and underserved locations across the county, including 844 homes and 12 businesses, by late 2026. Internet access will significantly improve for the impacted residents and enterprises in Broadway, Coats, Dunn, Lillington, and Sanford communities.
This build results from a finalized agreement to acquire CloudWyze’s fiber assets, with Ripple Fiber assuming the associated broadband grants previously awarded under North Carolina’s GREAT Grant program. As of March 2025, the State of North Carolina officially approved and completed the grant transfer to Ripple Fiber, paving the way for the provider to execute this broadband expansion initiative.