Rural New York Broadband Project Hailed for Unique Collaboration

(TNS) -- The effort to bring broadband Internet service to rural areas of Niagara and Orleans counties in New York could be accomplished at an initial cost of $2 million to $3 million, although the total cost could range up to $5 million, Niagara County Legislator David E. Godfrey said last week.

Godfrey and his partner in the effort, Orleans County Legislature Vice Chairwoman Lynne M. Johnson, were honored Thursday night at a state broadband summit in Albany for leading the most collaborative broadband project in the state.

Godfrey, R-Wilson, said the Niagara-Orleans Regional Alliance has zeroed in on one contractor to install the rural broadband facilities, although he said the identity of the company would not be released until all the paperwork is signed, including a commitment from the office of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo to allow state “smart schools” funds to be applied to the project.

If that money, which was intended for technology projects in schools, legally can be applied to the proposal, it would cover half the expense, Godfrey said.

The program envisions the use of the money for rural broadband projects led by school districts, not by counties. The state has allocated $13.7 million in smart-schools aid to districts whose communities are taking part in the Niagara-Orleans broadband effort.

Godfrey said memoranda of understanding with the contractor likely will be signed in the next couple of weeks, and a July 9 meeting is expected between the company and David Salway, director of the state broadband program.

Voters approved the $2 billion smart-schools program in November. The two-county alliance hired consultant Evhen Tupis and his BPGreene firm to conduct a survey of areas in the two counties where high-speed Internet service is not available because the major vendors, Verizon and Time Warner, have not installed fiber-optic cable.

Tupis’ survey covered all of Orleans County and seven towns in Niagara County. It compiled a list of structures tall enough to host antennas for wireless broadband service. But Godfrey noted, “You can’t just put an antenna on a tower. You’ve got to feed it with something.”

He said the alliance’s vendor needs technical information on where to place its antennas to link them up to the fiber-optic networks.

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