Under New York's plan, that BEAD sum will be used alongside private investments from internet service providers to bring high-speed, broadband internet to the largely rural areas of the state that currently lack it, with a focus on building out fiber-optic and wireless networks.
"Today, we celebrate a major milestone for New York in this process, the Biden-Harris Administration has approved New York's plan," said Samantha Silverberg, a deputy assistant to the president working on infrastructure implementation.
She said New York's connectivity program is focused on improving affordability as it works to close the connectivity gap, something she said works perfectly in concert with the Biden administration's pledge to expand the economy with a focus on low and middle-income people.
"I want to commend the team at ConnectALL for their recognition that internet networks must be affordable to the people and the communities that they connect," she said.
In New York, the program will be run by Empire State Development and its ConnectALL Office, which is singularly focused on expanding access to broadband in New York.
That office has identified 114,377 individual addresses that are considered unserved or underserved by broadband internet, and found that the cost to connect all of those addresses with fiber-optic networks would be $1.9 billion. Those addresses are widely scattered around the state. A map of the ConnectALL survey's findings identifies small pockets of property in nearly every region of the state as "unserved," meaning there are no broadband connections available, and smaller pockets of properties that are "underserved," meaning there is only one broadband option available.
Large pockets of the north country, especially on Fort Drum and in and around the Adirondack Park, have no data because there are few addresses to serve there.
Under a 5-year action plan, the goal is to provide broadband at every residence and business in the state by 2030, and expand rural cellphone coverage every year between 2025 until completion in 2030.
Affordability is also a goal under New York's plan — with at least 100,000 addresses in affordable and public housing provided access to affordable connection options by 2030. New York hopes to create at least 2,000 new jobs specifically for low-income New Yorkers with expanded internet access by 2030.
The state has pledged to contribute at least $50 million to a statewide Digital Equity Plan, aimed at making internet connectivity much more accessible for rural and low-income residents with at least 5 different "innovations."
In a press call on Tuesday, Joshua Breitbart, senior vice president of the ConnectALL program, said that while 98% of New Yorkers have access to broadband internet from at least two sources, the struggle has been to close the remaining 2% gap.
"The remaining 2% are the most challenging to reach," he said. "These include many of New York's most rural and remote areas, and connecting these locations would be almost impossible without our federal partners at the National Telecommunications Information Administration and the members of our Congressional delegation that made this funding possible, and the White House."
Breitbart said he is excited about the promise that the BEAD funding will provide to New York and the path forward.
"This is about ensuring that from Buffalo to Montauk, from my hometown of Brooklyn to the northern reached of the Adirondacks, every resident can participate fully in our digital economy and society," he said.
The BEAD program, part of the Biden administration's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law from 2021, authorized $42.5 billion in federal spending to expand broadband access nationwide. Under that plan, states submitted applications detailing how they plan to use their allocation from the BEAD program, subject to federal approval, with the plans meant to close their digital gaps as quickly as possible.
Internet connection drives in New York have been the subject of bipartisan attention for a few years now, and some local officials have said that the maps generated by state and federal officials meant to show which areas still need connection are not as accurate as they could be, misidentifying covered and uncovered areas alike.
Breitbart said that he and the federal officials focused on this project are aware that some of the maps used to determine what areas need attention are not perfect, but said the gap has been bridged by working closely with local officials.
"We've worked from the federal map, but we've gone through our state challenge process, which is almost to its conclusion, and we take that input and are able to factor that into, ultimately, the list of locations we submit to NITA," he said. "We've heard that (the maps aren't perfect), but because of the local partnerships, and we have that in the north country in particular, and across the state, and following NITA process, we're confident that the locations we're going to reach are going to accurately reflect the need across the state."
© 2024 Watertown Daily Times (Watertown, N.Y.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
