Duplin County, NC – FOCUS Broadband announced today that the company completed work to bring fiber optic high-speed internet to rural communities near Magnolia, Rose Hill and Teachey. These projects were made possible through two grants totaling more than $2.5 million dollars awarded in 2020 through the Growing Rural Economies through Access to Technology (GREAT) Grant Program as well as the Special Supplementary Round of the GREAT Grant Program. 

FOCUS Broadband contributed more than $1 million dollars in matching funds to bring service to these rural areas in Duplin County. With the completion of these grants, more than 1,000 residents and businesses in these areas can now enjoy the benefits of fiber optic internet with speeds up to 1Gig.

“These GREAT Grants were vital in our work to bring high-speed internet to rural Duplin County,” commented Keith Holden, FOCUS Broadband CEO. “I’d like to thank NC DIT and Governor Cooper for investing in rural North Carolina through the GREAT Grant program. We are also appreciative of support from Four County EMC in helping us get Duplin County residents connected to our fiber optic network.”

Last year, FOCUS Broadband received a third GREAT Grant for Duplin County to serve an additional 948 homes in the communities of Chinquapin, Cypress Creek and Beulaville. FOCUS Broadband will invest $535,755 and Duplin County Government will also invest $150,000 to bring high-speed internet to these areas. In total, FOCUS Broadband has secured more than $6.8 million in GREAT Grants for Duplin County and will invest more than $2.3 million to complete these projects.

FOCUS Broadband has been serving rural North Carolinians for more than 65 years and has a great track record of using grant funds to provide high-speed internet to rural areas. Since 2019, FOCUS Broadband has secured more than $120 million from four federal grants through the USDA’s ReConnect Broadband and Community Connect Programs and 16 state grants through the NCDIT’s Growing Rural Economies with Access to Technology (GREAT) grant program. With these grants, FOCUS Broadband is building a fiber optic network capable of providing multi-gigabit broadband internet to more than 35,000 homes and businesses in Brunswick, Columbus, Duplin, Robeson, Pender, Hoke, Scotland, Bladen, Chowan, and Perquimans counties.

To find out where FOCUS Broadband service is available in Duplin County, visit www.fasterduplin.com. Residents and businesses interested in signing up for FOCUS Broadband service can call 888-367-2862 to speak to a customer care representative.