The New NY Broadband Program – leading the nation with the goal of broadband for all – is making high-speed progress toward its goal of serving all New Yorkers by 2018. The program’s Round I awards, which will connect 34,000 homes to high-speed internet for the first time, were announced in early August and a Request for Proposals has now launched for Round II.
Those milestones were reached on the heels of a study ranking New York State first in the nation for broadband activity and investment. In May, Governor Cuomo announced the ranking by Strategic Networks Group, which surveyed states for factors including broadband availability, adoption, investment and regulation.
Governor Cuomo recognizes that broadband access is a necessity, not a luxury in the 21st century economy. The New NY Broadband Program, with the New York State Public Service Commission’s order approving the Time Warner Cable-Charter Communications merger, will greatly increase broadband availability for millions of New Yorkers. Charter’s commitments, plus completion of the Round 1 awards projects, will mean 97 percent of New Yorkers have broadband access.
The program’s central components include new access to broadband at speeds of at least 100 Mbps (megabytes per second) and 25 Mbps in the state’s most remote areas, as well as high priority given to areas and projects that would most improve internet access to unserved areas.
For more information about the program, and details of Round II RFP applications, visit the Broadband Program Office website.