Governor Kathy Hochul, Majority Leader Charles Schumer and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand today announced over $140 million in awards from the ConnectALL Municipal Infrastructure Grant Program to expand broadband infrastructure throughout Central New York, the Finger Lakes, Mohawk Valley, North Country, Mid-Hudson and Western New York regions. These public-private partnerships will lead to the construction of more than 1,200 miles of publicly-owned fiber optic infrastructure and wireless hubs, connecting over 60,000 homes and businesses with affordable, symmetric service — offering equal download and upload speeds at rates below regional averages. These six new grants build on previous awards, bringing the program’s total to $214.7 million, funded primarily by the Treasury Department’s Capital Projects Fund. Altogether, the program now supports over 2,000 miles of broadband infrastructure, reaching more than 87,000 homes and businesses statewide.
“Today marks a transformative step forward in our mission to connect every New Yorker to affordable, high-speed internet,” Governor Hochul said. “By investing over $140 million in public broadband infrastructure across six regions, we’re not just laying fiber optic cables — we’re building bridges to education, health care, economic opportunity and prosperity. With our new interactive dashboard, New Yorkers can now track our progress as we work to ensure that no community is left behind in our digital future.”
Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer said, “Access to high-speed internet is not luxury, but a necessity, a utility as vital as electricity for everyday life. Today, Upstate NY takes a major step towards closing the digital divide. I’m proud to deliver a whopping $140+ million to help expand broadband infrastructure to boost affordable, high-quality internet access for 60,000 homes and businesses across Upstate NY. This will help communities in every corner of Upstate NY from the City of Jamestown to rural parts of Schoharie, Orleans and Sullivan County. It will help families stay connected to education, to healthcare, economic opportunity, and each other. When I led the American Rescue Plan and Bipartisan Infrastructure & Jobs Law to passage, I made sure there was funding for long term investments like this that would create good paying jobs helping build the 21st century infrastructure needed to make high-speed internet reaches corner of the state regardless of zip code. I’m grateful for Governor Hochul’s work putting these federal dollars to work to ensure all New Yorkers get the equitable access to the internet that they deserve.”
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand said, “Every New Yorker deserves affordable, high-speed internet, regardless of where they live. This substantial investment in public broadband infrastructure will help connect New Yorkers to remote work opportunities, telehealth appointments and online educational programs, bringing our state one step closer to closing the digital divide once and for all. I’m proud to have helped secure this vital funding through the American Rescue Plan Act, and I will continue working to expand reliable internet access across our state.”
To support transparency and public engagement, ConnectALL has also launched a beta version of its interactive project dashboard, enabling users to view locations and key details for each broadband project. The dashboard, will continue to expand with new features and information on additional grant awards across all ConnectALL programs.
Empire State Development President, CEO and Commissioner Hope Knight said, “Expanding broadband access is essential for the future of our communities and the vitality of our economy. Through strategic public-private partnerships, we’re not only expanding critical broadband infrastructure but also fostering competition, lowering costs and creating a foundation for innovation. These investments will transform communities from the Finger Lakes to the North Country, ensuring that high-speed internet becomes as fundamental and accessible as any other public utility.”
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. Internet Service Providers will use the new broadband infrastructure to provide New Yorkers with affordable, high quality service options.
The most recent awardees of the Municipal Infrastructure Program include:
- Orleans County (Finger Lakes) – $11 million: Orleans County will utilize $11 million in MIP funds to extend its wireless internet network to serve more than 11,000 locations with 100/100 Mbps speed. This project will build on a successful wireless internet project the county launched in 2020 with RTO Wireless, by installing 21 wireless hubs on existing and new towers. The County will own the network, which RTO Wireless will design, construct, maintain and operate. The towers will be open for lease to other ISPs. The county will also extend its partnership with the United Way to provide digital literacy training and community outreach, addressing the adoption barrier among low-income households. The project addresses the challenge of providing high-speed internet in rural areas with a low population density of 103 people per square mile. The county’s cutting-edge wireless solution, combined with strong community partnerships, provides a cost-effective alternative to fiber networks, promoting digital equity and enhancing connectivity for residents, businesses, education and the agricultural community.
- Broadband for Schoharie County (Mohawk Valley) – $30 million: The Broadband for Schoharie County project will construct 298 miles of fiber to connect more than 4,000 locations, including substantially all of the unserved locations in the county. The new infrastructure will reach the most rural and hard to reach areas of the county. The county will partner with MIDTEL, which has been serving customers in the County for over 125 years. The county will own the infrastructure and will leverage MIDTEL’s expertise to construct and operate the network. The network will be open-access, with interconnection points at MIDTEL’s central office and at two aggregation points distributed across the county. This initiative will make service available at prices well below the county average with the goal of improving educational, health and work outcomes particularly in low-income areas of the county.
- Central New York Regional Planning and Development Board (Central New York) – $26 Million: The Central New York Regional Planning and Development Board will establish CNYNET, a regional open-access fiber network to serve 6,671 locations in the Counties of Cayuga and Cortland. The Board conducted a Broadband Infrastructure Study in 2021 to develop the network design, which provides the optimum opportunity to expand consumer choice to unserved locations and surrounding areas in the two counties. The Board will form CNYNET, Inc., as a non-profit local development corporation to own and manage the network. Empire Access will operate the network and deliver residential internet service over the network. Cayuga and Cortland Counties will contribute $7 Million and $3 Million respectively to the total project budget of $36.2 million.
- Franklin County (North Country) – $13.1 Million: Franklin County will connect unserved locations using Fiber-to-Home and Next Generation Fixed-Wireless solutions. The county is partnering with Airosmith Development for design and LayerEight for construction and operation, building 144 miles of fiber and installing four poles for wireless links and coverage. The county will own and operate one part of the new infrastructure with Hudson Valley Wireless serving as the internet service provider. In Area 2 adjacent to the St. Regis Mohawk territory, the county will transfer the infrastructure to Mohawk Networks acting on behalf of the Tribal Council after substantial network completion and Mohawk Networks will be the service provider in that area. In total, this project will connect 1567 locations, including 46 Community Anchor Institutions.
- Sullivan County (Mid-Hudson) – $29.9 Million: Sullivan County is partnering with Archtop Fiber LLC to serve over 22,000 homes and businesses, leveraging the county’s existing towers and Archtop’s capabilities in fiber optic construction. Sullivan County will own the infrastructure, while Archtop Fiber and Hudson Valley Wireless will serve as internet service providers. The county will build 253 miles of fiber and one new communication tower, in addition to 11 towers it already owns, extending broadband service to unserved and underserved locations. Sullivan County faces unique challenges due to its rural, mountainous terrain, low population density and status, as the most distressed of the seven counties represented by the Hudson Valley Regional Council that have long deterred broadband deployment in the county. This initiative reverses that trend for many of the unserved homes in the county and creates new opportunities in health, education and economic well-being.
- City of Jamestown / EntryPoint Networks Inc. (Western New York) – $29.9 Million: The City of Jamestown is partnering with EntryPoint Networks and Quanta Telecommunication Services to build an open-access fiber network to serve all 14,447 homes and businesses served by the Jamestown public utility. The Jamestown Board of Public Utilities will own and operate the infrastructure, with EntryPoint Networks providing telecom equipment and software and Quanta managing design and construction. This project will address longstanding concerns in the community over broadband reliability and affordability. Along with lowering consumer costs and enhancing network performance and reliability, the network will drive economic opportunity, improve education outcomes for children in Jamestown, and advance health care and general well-being for the entire town.
The Municipal Infrastructure Program is informed by ConnectALL’s successful pilot projects, which showcased the transformative potential of publicly-owned, open access fiber optic networks. These networks, designed for use by multiple service providers, bring much-needed consumer choice to underserved areas. By treating broadband as a basic utility, public ownership ensures universal access for all households in participating communities. The initial $10 million investment from ConnectALL funded pilot projects in four upstate New York communities: the Village of Sherburne (Chenango County), the Town of Nichols (Tioga County), the Town of Diana (Lewis County) and the Town of Pitcairn (St. Lawrence County). Upon completion, these projects successfully connected over 3,000 households to high-speed internet, offering services at rates below the regional average.
State Senator Shelley B. Mayer said, “I am incredibly pleased to see the continued investment in broadband through the Municipal Infrastructure Program. As Chair of the Senate Education Committee, I know how important broadband access is for educational and economic opportunities. We saw this so plainly during the COVID Pandemic and we have taken action to address it. This roll out is a crucial pillar of digital equity which must also include continued investments in digital literacy and device access. Thank you to Governor Hochul and our federal partners for this important investment and implementation.”
State Senator Kristen Gonzalez said, “Access to affordable, high-speed internet is essential for every New Yorker to succeed and live a dignified life, and today’s $140 million investment will connect over 60,000 homes and businesses to the opportunities they deserve. I’m grateful for Governor Hochul and the ConnectALL Municipal Infrastructure Grant Program in their work to make broadband access a priority.”
Assemblymember Steve Otis said, “Congratulations to Governor Hochul and our NYS ConnectALL office for this latest announcement of broadband infrastructure expansion projects. ConnectALL funding is supporting the nuts and bolts task of deploying broadband access to areas without the necessary infrastructure. We need to make sure that every New Yorker has broadband access, devices and training to make essential digital literacy available to all. These ConnectAll grants help us close the gaps that remain.”
Governor Hochul’s ConnectALL Initiative
Governor Hochul established the $1 billion ConnectALL Initiative – New York’s largest-ever investment in broadband access – to close the State’s digital divide, transform digital infrastructure and ensure that all New Yorkers have access to reliable and affordable high-speed broadband internet service. To date, ConnectALL has overseen the successful launch and implementation of several programs to advance broadband access, including:
- The Digital Equity Program will invest $50 million, including a federal allocation of at least $37 million, to implement the New York State Digital Equity Plan to close the digital divide. The Plan outlines New York’s statewide strategy to increase its capacity to improve digital literacy and digital job readiness skills, facilitate access to affordable internet and devices, enhance digital privacy and safety and make government services more accessible through the internet.
- The Affordable Housing Connectivity Program to bring new broadband infrastructure to homes in affordable and public housing leveraging a $100 million federal investment from the U.S. Treasury Department’s Capital Projects Fund. The program is currently accepting applications from internet service providers and expressions of interest from housing owners and public housing authorities.
- The ConnectALL Deployment Program to fund internet service providers to reach unserved and underserved locations, drawing on an allocation of $664.6 million in federal funding from the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program, as described in the ConnectALL Broadband Deployment Initial Proposal. The program’s Request for Applications is anticipated for Fall, 2024.
Sources: governor.ny.gov , hbigny.com/
