Comporium, a key internet service provider in both North and South Carolina, has received a significant grant from South Carolina’s broadband office, amounting to approximately $52 million. This grant is part of a larger funding initiative, where South Carolina’s broadband office distributed around $112.3 million to eight ISPs to enhance internet connectivity across the state. The funds, sourced from South Carolina’s Capital Projects Fund (CPF), are designated for 17 different projects, with Comporium’s allocation being the largest. Comporium operates in several areas including Fort Mill, Rock Hill, Lancaster, Lexington, Tega Cay, Indian Land, Charlotte, and Brevard.
According the state’s map of the grant awards, Comporium has a $27m project within Tega Cay, SC, to upgrade 1,214 structures.
While Comporium secured the major portion of the funding, other ISPs such as WC Fiber, Carolina Connect Cooperative, Farmers Telephone Cooperative, and more also received grants. The overall investment by South Carolina, coupled with approximately $49.8 million in matching funds from the providers, aims to expand internet access to over 16,000 locations. All CPF-funded projects are required to be completed by December 29, 2025.
South Carolina Broadband Director Jim Stritzinger expressed enthusiasm about this phase of CPF investments. This funding round notably did not include major ISPs like AT&T or Comcast, which had previously received funds through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).
The grant to Comporium and others is part of a broader effort in the southeast U.S. to advance broadband infrastructure, evidenced by recent developments like India-based STL opening a fiber optic plant in South Carolina and other companies establishing facilities in the region. Moreover, South Carolina has been allocated $551.5 million in Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) funding, with each state required to submit plans for their grant programs to the NTIA, which maintains a public dashboard to track progress.
The SCBBO press release is available at https://ors.sc.gov/news/2023-12/scbbo-invests-1123-million-connect-16000-homes
About Dr. Tom
Thomas Hyslip currently serves as an Assistant Professor of Instruction in the Department of Criminology, University of South Florida teaching exclusively in the online Master of Science in Cybercrime program. The program is a unique blend of criminology, digital forensics, cybercrime investigations, and incident response course work.
Prior to USF, Dr. Hyslip worked as a Special Agent with the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) and United States Secret Service for 23 years. While assigned to the DCIS Southeast Field Office, Dr. Hyslip led an undercover operation dedicated to targeting and dismantling the most egregious cyber-criminal enterprises. Dr. Hyslip worked with the National Security Agency, and the United States Cyber Command to identify and infiltrate cyber-criminal organizations targeting the DoD.
In 2012, Dr. Hyslip was promoted to lead the newly created Department of Defense, Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS), Cyber Resident Agency. He led daily procedural and operational activities of special agents in eight locations across the eastern United States responding to computer intrusions within the DoD and the Defense Industrial Base. His office also provided computer forensic support to all DCIS offices and investigations within the Eastern United States, Europe, Africa and Southwest Asia. During this time, Dr. Hyslip worked proactively to target international Cyber-Crime groups and worked undercover to penetrate underground cyber-crime organizations which resulted in the dismantlement of the WebStresser DDoS platform in 2018; the ExoStresser DDoS platform in 2019; and the PowerStresser DDoS platform in 2020.
Dr. Hyslip is also a retired U.S. Army Colonel. His last assignment was as a Historian with the U.S. Army Center of Military History. He was previously assigned to the Office of the Surgeon General as an Environmental Engineer, and as an Assistant Professor of Preventive Medicine at the F. Edward Hébert School of Medicine, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. COL Hyslip has a mix of active duty and reserve assignments spanning over 27 years including assignments with the US African Command, Office of Inspector General, the Department of Defense, Office of Inspector General, and the US Army Reserve Information Operations Command. In 2005, COL Hyslip deployed to Iraq with the 306th Military Police Battalion and earned a Bronze Star, Purple Heart, and Combat Action Badge.
Dr. Hyslip earned his Doctor of Science degree in Information Assurance from Capitol College, Master of Science degree in Technology Systems from East Carolina University, and his Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Clarkson University. Tom and his wife Susan live in Tega Cay, SC with their daughter Reagan.
