Broadband
Broadband Update October 2022
New York State
ConnectALL
Program
NYS Internet Survey NYS PSC Broadband Map
Washington County remains committed to achieving new connections in a timely manner and will apply for funding directly from other sources as well as partner with providers to foster new connections in advance of upcoming state funded programs whenever possible. We recognize that access to Broadband is essential for all of our residents and businesses and will continue to work to ensure that the County is at or near 100% served.
Deployment of New York’s 2016 Broadband for All program that targeted achieving a 99% coverage rate for access to high-speed internet has now completed in Washington County. With new passings resulting from this program along with connections delivered by Spectrum as a result of the Charter-Time Warner Cable merger Washington County estimates that in the past three years over ten thousand new connections have been made. New passings have been deployed primarily by Hudson Valley Wireless, SLIC Network Solutions, Spectrum, and Verizon. At this time, it is estimated that about 95% of the approximately 29,000 housing units in the County now have access to high-speed internet.While this is great news for the County overall, this leaves approximately 1500 households remaining with no access to high-speed internet. Depending on distance from existing infrastructure and affordability of a new connection the number of unserved could be deemed marginally higher. While satellite may be an option in some cases, the technology cannot deliver the same results that a fiber-based connection can and is therefore not considered to be broadband. Fiber infrastructure is expensive to deploy; in some cases, the cost per mile to cover the costs of permitting, surveying, pole replacement, stringing fiber and making connections exceeded $45,000 per mile in Washington County although the average cost per mile was less.
The Federal Infrastructure and Jobs Act will allow New York State access to a portion of the $65 billion nationwide broadband program. The new funding will be available to address broadband access, affordability, and digital equity. New York has created the ConnectAll initiative, and the State Broadband office is currently developing programs and plans as required by federal legislation. This process will take some time as once programs are developed and approved, they must then be deployed, and providers will then have a process to undertake before new connections can be made.
New York Department of Public Service has created a MAP that identifies broadband providers currently available to every address. This information will establish eligibility for future funding for providers to deploy connections to unserved addresses. Users may enter their address and review the information about currently available providers. If information shown is not accurate, corrections can be submitted in the “Provide Your Feedback” link to the right of the map.