HERO Project

MCNC is a 501(c)(3) non-profit client-focused technology organization. Founded in 1980, MCNC owns and operates the North Carolina Research and Education Network (NCREN), one of America’s longest-running regional research and education networks. With over 40 years of innovation, MCNC provides high-performance services for education, research, libraries, healthcare, public safety, and other community anchor institutions throughout North Carolina. NCREN is the fundamental broadband infrastructure for over 850 of these institutions including all public K-20 education in North Carolina. As one of the nation’s premier middle-mile fiber backbone networks, MCNC leverages NCREN to customize protected Internet, cybersecurity services, and related applications for each client while supporting private service providers in bringing cost-efficient connectivity to rural and underserved communities in North Carolina.

MCNC commits to provide in perpetuity wholesale broadband service at reasonable rates on a carrier neutral, fully open, non-discriminatory basis to all HERO infrastructure. MCNC is very well positioned to make this commitment based on our status as a proven not-for-profit provider of wholesale middle mile services, with both an identified set of existing and potential customers as well as an efficient operational cost position from our existing network. The expansion of MCNC’s open access network via this grant will allow MCNC to enhance the affordability strategies of last mile providers who are drawn to MCNC as the only low-cost, fully non-discriminatory provider offering services including dark fiber over the longest time horizons.

Funding for the HERO project is provided by MCNC investments with support from the National Telecommunications and. Information Administration (NTIA) via a grant from the Enabling Middle Mile Broadband Infrastructure Program as part of the Biden Administration’s “Internet for All” initiative.

More than 235 grant applications were submitted totaling more than $5.5 billion in funding requests.

Broadband is the transmission of wide bandwidth data over a high-speed internet connection.  According to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the definition of broadband internet is a minimum of 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload speeds. Broadband provides high speed internet access via multiple types of technologies including fiber optics, wireless, cable, DSL and satellite.

Broadband infrastructure refers to the physical components, equipment and systems that allow for high-speed internet connectivity to be delivered to homes, businesses, and other locations.  It includes the network of cables, fiber-optic lines, satellites, and other technologies that enable data to be transmitted and received quickly and reliably.

Broadband infrastructure is essential for enabling modern communication and commerce as well as for providing access to education, healthcare and other important services. It is essential building and participating in a diverse economy. While there is significant broadband infrastructure across North Carolina, there are regions of the state that remain underserved or unserved in terms of the availability and affordability of broadband.  This is largely the result of a lack of broadband infrastructure in those regions.

Let’s use a highway analogy.  In this analogy, the telecommunications network is like the highway system connecting cities and towns across North Carolina.  ‘Middle mile’ would be the main highways connecting the major cities and towns while ‘last mile’ would be more like the local roads connecting exits to individual communities, home and businesses.

When used in terms of telecommunications, the phrase middle mile is used to refer to the portion of the network infrastructure that connects the core backbone network to  the local access network that serves end-users such as homes and businesses.  Middle mile includes fiber optic cables, data centers and other network facilities that transmit data over long distances. ‘Last mile’ refers to the final leg of the network that connects the end-user to a service provider’s network.