Lumos Awarded GREAT Grant Funding to Expand Fiber Optic Network in Wayne County Ahead of Service Launch

HIGH POINT, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Lumos, a leading 100% Fiber Optic Internet and Total Home Wi-Fi service provider in the Mid-Atlantic, celebrates continued progress in Wayne County, North Carolina, as a recipient of a Growing Rural Economies with Access to Technology (GREAT) grant. Funding from this grant will support the company’s earlier investment to build its Fiber Optic network to over 14,000 underserved homes in Goldsboro.

The North Carolina Department of Information Technology (NCDIT) awarded over $80 million in grants to private companies, including Lumos, to provide underserved households and businesses across 33 N.C. counties with high-speed internet.

“We are grateful to NCDIT for recognizing our work as we build a 100% Fiber Optic network that reaches many parts of North Carolina, not just the large cities,” said Brian Stading, CEO of Lumos. “The GREAT grant funds will allow us to provide Wayne County with lightning-fast internet access, giving residents the bandwidth and reliability to work from home, learn remotely, attend telehealth appointments and more.”

With service expected to launch in early October, Lumos will host a celebratory ribbon cutting in Goldsboro, where local, state, and federal dignitaries are expected to attend.

Lumos will serve as the first-ever fiber internet provider to more than 1,000 homes and small businesses in Wayne County, reaching nearly 100% of households in the Goldsboro city limits and providing residents with lightning-fast fiber internet.

“We thank NCDIT’s Broadband Infrastructure Office for accepting Wayne County’s GREAT grant application with Lumos Fiber,” said Barbara Aycock, Chairwoman Wayne County Board of Commissioners. “This announcement is truly exciting for the County as we not only expand access to high-speed internet, but we expand service for generations to come using grant funding. We will continue to work on broadband expansion and apply for grants to ensure that children are able to learn, businesses can flourish, and residents are connected.”

Lumos is proactively working to bridge the digital divide as it expands its 100% Fiber Optic network into unserved and underserved neighborhoods through significant private investments and public partnerships.

The company participates in the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), a government funding program created to improve the affordability of home internet service. Eligible households can pair their $30 ACP benefit with the company’s $30 internet plan to receive high-speed internet at no cost.

To check if Lumos’ 100% Fiber Optic Internet is available at your address, please visit www.lumosfiber.com/builtforthefuture.

About Lumos: Lumos provides 100% Fiber Optic Internet, whole-Home Wi-Fi, voice and streaming services, to more than 250,000 homes and businesses across North Carolina, Virginia and, recently announced, South Carolina footprint. We believe that the possibilities of tomorrow cannot be built on the infrastructure of yesterday. That’s why we’re building a 100% Fiber Optic network from the ground up for families, small businesses and communities, backed by local, expert customer service. An Internet built for that most hopeful of all things – the future. Because whatever the future holds, we make it faster. Learn more at www.LumosFiber.com.

LinkedIn: @LumosFiber
Twitter: @lumosfiber