Albemarle Mayor Pro Tem Martha Sue Hall (left) works with Kinetic’s Austin McGee to learn about how to connect fiber. Charles Curcio / Stanly News Journal

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Several rural areas of Stanly will soon have drastically-improved internet access following groundbreaking ceremony hosted by the Stanly Chamber.

Thanks to both state and local funding, Kinetic, the internet branch of local telephone company Windstream, announced the expansion of fiber optic internet services to rural Stanly.

Large portions of Millingport and neighborhoods close by located off N.C. Hwy. 73, including Ridenhour, along with rural areas just northwest and southeast of Aquadale, were included in a map provided by Kinetic at Friday’s groundbreaking. Also included in the new plans was a neighborhood off N.C. 24-27-73 heading towards Montgomery County.

Stacy Hale, the president of Kinetic’s North Carolina operations, said the orange projects on the map were “the projects that we’re celebrating today to get started, and we hope they’ll even be more projects in the future.”

Hale said the county will receive 78 miles of fiber cable which could service 873 potential households.

“Without the cooperation of the county and state, we would not be able to do this because it’s just cost prohibitive to go out here and start plowing in the middle of nowhere and not have a lot of customers out there,” Hale said.

According to Hale, Kinetic put up roughly $912,000 for the project, with the county and the North Carolina Department of Information Technology adding approximately $1 million each.

Hale also added the project will be completed “no later than the fall of 2026. Some of those [projects] will finish before then … we will turn them up as we go.”

Before the meeting, Hale said permitting and burying cable in the ground is very expensive. “It takes partners, county, city and state, to get that done. This is an unprecedented time in our history.”

“We’re super excited to be partnering with Windstream and the Dept. of Information Technology,” county manager Andy Lucas said. “The commissioners have made broadband a priority in the community.”

Lucas added, “having internet is critical for our kids and education, and also for healthcare and telehealth. It’s being able to get online and book a DMV appointment.

Albemarle City Council Mayor Pro Tem Martha Sue Hall said, “what a blessing to be able to put this cable and fiber in… we’re glad that you’re still in an Albemarle zip code out here providing these services to our citizens.”