Awards in Central New York, Southern Tier, Finger Lakes, and North Country Regions Will Fund Construction of More Than 800 Miles of Public Broadband Infrastructure
Part of $228 Million Federal Investment To Build Last-Mile Broadband Infrastructure Across New York State
Builds on Governor Hochul’s $1 Billion ConnectALL Program to Expand Affordable, Reliable Broadband Access for All New Yorkers
Governor Kathy Hochul today announced more than $70 million in awards through ConnectALL’s Municipal Infrastructure Grant Program as part of a $228 million federal investment to help connect New Yorkers to high-speed broadband internet. The projects include multimillion-dollar commitments to transform public broadband infrastructure in the Central New York, Southern Tier, Finger Lakes, and North Country regions, offering symmetric service options – where the download and upload speeds are the same – at price points below local averages. Together, the projects will result in the construction of more than 800 miles of public broadband infrastructure and connect more than 25,000 homes and businesses.
“These awards mark the next step in our billion-dollar effort to close New York’s digital divide,” Governor Hochul said. “Thanks to our historic ConnectALL initiative and support from the Biden administration and New York’s congressional delegation, we are funding projects from Syracuse to Franklin County to strengthen our broadband infrastructure and bring affordable, reliable, high-speed internet to more than 25,000 New York families.”
Empire State Development President, CEO and Commissioner Hope Knight said, “These awards through the Municipal Infrastructure Grant Program will connect tens of thousands of homes and businesses across Upstate New York and deliver reliable high-speed internet service to areas of the state that are unserved and underserved while addressing ConnectALL’s mandate to develop a robust, equitable broadband marketplace across New York State.”
Funding for ConnectALL’s Municipal Infrastructure Program has been awarded through the U.S. Department of the Treasury under the American Rescue Plan’s Capital Projects Fund. Broadband infrastructure in the Municipal Infrastructure Program will be owned by a public entity or publicly controlled and Internet Service Providers will use the new broadband infrastructure to provide New Yorkers with affordable, high quality service options.
Read the full press release here.