Broadband in Northern New York Dave Wolff – AdkAction.org Broadband Committee Chair

Governor Cuomo: “Broadband is today what electricity was nearly a century ago – essential to creating economic opportunity, driving innovation, and an absolute necessity for our way of life.” For example, NY Connects gives access to many services offered by NYS:

On January 8, 2016, New York launched the largest broadband investment by any state. The New NY Broadband Program Requirements & Design Provide minimum speeds of 100 Mbps. State to provide $500 million in funding with a target of an additional 50% private sector co-investment. Grant funding for providing last-mile services to unserved & underserved areas. Evaluate applications thru a reverse-auction process. Allocate funding based on lowest cost per unit served. Conduct auctions in each of the 10 REDC’s.

Most of the Northern New York counties received awards in Phases 1 & 2 of the New NY Broadband Program.

Much of Northern New York contains census blocks eligible for Phase 3 funding. (New NY Broadband Program Phase 3 details can be found at: https://nysbroadband.ny.gov/new-ny-broadband-program/phase-3)

County/Town involvement was key to continuing Northern New York’s very successful win rate in Phase 3.

with the greatest unmet Broadband need. Varying the color by eligible unit density highlights the parts of a county with the greatest unmet Broadband need.

Segmenting a county allows the addition of eligible unit numbers to the maps.

Time Warner Cable and Charter Communications to form Spectrum. On Jan 8, 2016, the NYS Public Service Commission approved the merger of Time Warner Cable and Charter Communications to form Spectrum. Requirements of the merger included: Increase speed for existing customers: 100 Mbps by the end of 2018 300 Mbps by the end of 2019 Add an additional 145,000 households to the network by 2020. Offer a low-income service of 30 Mbps for $14.99 per month.

Spectrum has franchise agreements with most towns in the North Country.

Individuals can check* to see if their address is to be included in Spectrum’s 145,000 household network expansion plans. * The url is: http://www.bldlkup.com/