Governor Hochul, U.S. Senators Schumer And Gillibrand, And U.S. Representative Tonko Announce More Than $540 Million In Public And Private Investment To Connect Unserved New[...]

ConnectALL Launches Federal Broadband Program To Reach More 58,000 Homes and Businesses Statewide

New York Continues To Uphold the Nation's First Legal Protections for Low-Cost Internet Service for More Than 3 Million Estimated Households

Learn About ConnectALL Resources at broadband.ny.gov

Governor Hochul, along with U.S. Senators Schumer and Gillibrand and U.S. Representative Tonko, today announced that ConnectALL has begun implementation of a $542 million effort to bring affordable, reliable, high-speed internet service to 58,617 unserved and underserved homes and businesses in largely rural districts statewide as part of the federal Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program. This historic undertaking targets the final one percent of documented locations that remain unserved or underserved across New York State and is the result of a multi-year process.

"New York State has led the way in making broadband affordable and welcomes the opportunity to move forward with our federal partners in implementing the BEAD program and bringing affordable, reliable and critical digital infrastructure to the unserved and underserved communities in New York," Governor Hochul said. "Closing the digital divide means ensuring that reliable, high-speed access reaches every household in the state - and that it remains affordable when it gets there. New York is showing the rest of the nation that both are possible through its landmark Affordable Broadband Act and commitment to reaching the final 1% of unserved or underserved households."

Empire State Development President, CEO and Commissioner Hope Knight said, "As New York expands access to high-speed internet through this federal investment, we remain equally focused on ensuring that service remains affordable for residents and businesses. The state has taken important steps to protect consumers, and we will continue to implement broadband programs in a way that supports both expanded access and long-term affordability. This balanced approach is essential to making connectivity a true driver of economic opportunity."

Read the full press release here.