“Broadband is not the differentiator. The absence of broadband is the differentiator.”
That statement has stuck with me.
As technology leaders in North Carolina, particularly in our rural communities, we need to change the way we think about connectivity.
There was a time when broadband access could be marketed as an advantage. Today, it is increasingly basic infrastructure. Having reliable internet does not necessarily make your community special. Not having it, however, can immediately put your community at a disadvantage.
Education. Healthcare. Employment. Economic development. Government services. Banking. Public safety. Even the ability to apply for a job.
All of them increasingly assume connectivity already exists.
And simply being able to say a community is “served” is not enough. The connection has to be reliable, affordable, and actually usable by the people who depend on it.
For those of us in higher education, this matters tremendously. We can build incredible digital learning environments, cloud services, AI tools, and online student resources, but their value changes dramatically when a student cannot reliably reach them from home.
The next phase of digital equity isn't about making broadband impressive.
It's about making its absence rare.
That is an infrastructure challenge, an economic development challenge, and a leadership challenge for North Carolina.