House Bill 632 - Rural Broadband Transformation Act

• Increases broadband speed benchmarks from 25/3 Mbps to 100/20 Mbps download/upload effective July 1, 2024, modernizing definitions across multiple state broadband programs and grant initiatives.

• Authorizes counties and cities to construct and lease broadband infrastructure to private providers, with counties needing 4.75% unserved areas or major military installations and cities needing 60% population in qualifying counties.

• Permits the Department of Transportation to install telecommunications conduit in state rights-of-way on road projects 2,500+ feet long in counties with under 90% broadband access, with costs recovered through private provider leasing.

• Allows other eligible projects to deploy broadband infrastructure in protected project areas if necessary to serve unserved populations, ending an absolute deployment prohibition while maintaining a 18-month protection period for funded projects.

• Appropriates $100,000 to update broadband program requirements and $1,000,000 to the North Carolina Collaboratory to study broadband's impact on emergency services access for elderly and disabled residents in rural areas by February 1, 2024.