The Benefits of Boring: Spectrum Brings Reliable Internet to Islands in Upstate New York

Key Takeaways:

• Spectrum partnered with Wayne County, New York, to deliver reliable, high-speed Internet to more than 1,200 homes and businesses, including remote island communities in Sodus Bay.
• Geographic barriers required Spectrum crews to use heavy equipment ferried between islands, with fiber lines installed up to 50 feet below the bay.
• The project was part of Spectrum's multi-year rural construction initiative, driven by a more than $7 billion investment from the Company.

Residents in Sodus Bay aren't dependent on cellular hotspots or spotty internet connections anymore. After a rare underwater fiber installation years in the making, Spectrum's reliable, high-speed Internet is putting remote work, education, security and environmental monitoring within reach.

Rewind to 2023, when reliable internet was out of reach for many homes and businesses in Wayne County. Spectrum stepped in, partnering with local officials to bring broadband service to unserved parts of the community. Today, the Company's Fiber Broadband Network delivers reliable connectivity to more than 1,200 remote locations.

Most of Spectrum's construction projects involve hanging fiber on utility poles or burying it underground. But Sodus Bay's island geography demanded a different approach. Crews used barges to ferry heavy equipment between sites, then drilled up to 50 feet below the bay to run fiber lines stretching more than 2,700 feet - the Company's longest - from the mainland.

"Our teams have the determination and technical expertise to tackle a community's biggest challenges," said Tim Hodge, Spectrum's Regional Vice President of Field Operations in the Northeast. "Now living and working on these islands isn't a barrier to participating in the digital world."

The project was part of Spectrum's multi-year rural construction initiative, which is driven by more than $7 billion in private investment from the Company and will ultimately add an additional 100,000 miles of infrastructure to the Spectrum Fiber Broadband Network.