Rural county serves as model for national broadband expansion.

• Position: Cherokee County

About 4,500 Cherokee County homes and small businesses lacked access to internet service last year, but change is in the air or rather, the ground.

The county andCharter Communicationshave launched a two-year public-private partnership in which the Upstate county will model Charter's plans for its $5 billion broadband expansion to an estimated 1 million homes and businesses across the country.

The project will draw on the Federal Communication Commission's Rural Digital Opportunity Fund.

"Broadband is a vital resource for work, learning and personal connection," Jessica Geremia, Spectrum's area vice president of field operations, said in a news release. "Leveraging RDOF resources, we're building a high-speed, high-capacity network that will bring gigabit internet to thousands of homes and small businesses in Cherokee County an investment that will ensure families and businesses can participate fully in the digital world, now and well into the future."

The Cherokee project, funded with more than $3 million, began Jan. 1 and is expected to connect 3,000 homes and small businesses to high-speed internet.

"The future prosperity of South Carolina depends on a proactive approach to providing reliable broadband access to our rural communities," S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster said in the release. "Broadband allows our children to stay up to date on their schoolwork, gives businesses the ability to locate in rural communities, and improves our overall quality of life all of which will bring prosperity to our state. I applaud Charter Communications and Cherokee County for aggressively tackling the underserved areas of their county."

To reach unserved...