Columbus County, NC – ATMC has announced that high-speed internet is now available for the first four phases of a $15.8 million dollar ‘Faster Columbus’ project that is being made possible through a United States Department of Agriculture’s ReConnect Broadband Program grant which was awarded in December of 2019. Residents and businesses in the New Life Community, located east of Tabor City, now have access to high-speed internet with speeds of up to 1 Gigabit as well as digital cable TV, and home security and automation services from ATMC.

As part of the project, ATMC is contributing an additional $7.9 million dollars in matching funds. Upon completion of the project, ATMC will be able to serve more than 4,000 addresses in the rural Columbus County communities of Hallsboro, Lake Waccamaw, Bolton and areas north of Tabor City and Whiteville. Construction has already begun to bring faster internet to these areas, with the entire project on schedule to be completed by the end of next year.

“This USDA ReConnect Grant project allows us to expand our service into more areas of Columbus County that desperately need high-speed internet,” said Keith Holden, ATMC’s CEO and General Manager. “We are thankful to the USDA for making these grant funds available and to the many representatives in Columbus County and across the state that supported this grant project.”

ATMC has served residents and businesses in Columbus County for more than a decade. In 2010, ATMC received a $12 million grant through the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to bring high speed internet to over 2,600 residents and businesses in Nakina and Old Dock. Last July, the company announced the completion of a project made possible through a $1 million grant won in the 2019 NC GREAT Grant Program which made high-speed internet available to 1,200 households in the Beaverdam community. And in the last few weeks, ATMC announced that service was being made available to businesses and residents in Fair Bluff.

In December, ATMC won additional grant funding through a supplementary round of the NC GREAT grant program which will allow the expansion of high-speed internet service into the Boardman and Cerro Gordo Communities, areas along Smyrna Road near Whiteville, and additional areas near East Arcadia, Riegelwood, Northwest and Sandy Creek. Upon completion of these projects, since 2011, ATMC will have invested more than $40 million in broadband projects that will improve and expand high-speed internet service in Columbus County.

Tabor City is the first area to become available in ATMC’s USDA ReConnect project. As construction in these additional phases is completed, ATMC will make service available. To stay up to date on ATMC’s progress to bring high-speed internet to Columbus County visit www.fastercolumbus.com. Residents and businesses located in the first phases of Tabor City can sign up for services from ATMC service by calling, 910-754-4311.