roadband Internet access has become a critical infrastructure necessity in the twenty-first century. Educational facilities use it to increase learning opportunities. Ambulances can use it to communicate to hospitals. Police officers need their vehicle computers to connect to the network. Unfortunately, broadband access in the North Country is often not an option.

That’s why Northern Community Investment Corporation (NCIC) using $1 million in CDFA Tax Credit Funding, started a nonprofit orginization called WIRELESS LINC to bring affordable wireless access to northern New Hampshire communities, eliminating the need for costly wired access. As an economic development organization, NCIC works directly with businesses to create, secure, and protect area employment. They understood that communities without broadband are at a disadvantage.

The project had three goals; to create open access for commercial users; to set up a revolving loan fund for broadband service providers starting or expanding services; and creating a call center using Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) to support users.

“Applications are driving the need for more and more speed, particularly voice, data, and video,” says Jon Freeman, CEO of NCIC. “We need public financing to bring in the telecommunications companies.” He notes that the long term benefit of providing affordable broadband can be likened to the effect electricity had on rural America 80 years ago. Affordable broadband access is particularly important to the estimated 7,900 low- to moderate-income people located in the service area.

Project Facts:

Total project cost	$3.6 million
Total amount of CDFA grant	$1 million
Counties served by the project	Carroll, Coos, & Grafton
Capacity of the network	50,000 Users
Estimated number of low- and moderate-income users	7,900
Potential jobs created	1,258 over five years
CDFA Funding Source – Tax Credit Program