Greene County to provide $2.2M for high-speed internet - NEWS10 ABC

CATSKILL, N.Y. (NEWS10) — At its Monday, November 14 meeting, the Greene County Legislature authorized the execution of 3 contracts with Local Internet Service Providers (ISPs), including, Mid-Hudson Cable, Margaretville Telephone Company, and Charter Communications providing backing to assistance with the installation of High-Speed Fiber Internet to unserved areas of Greene County.

The Greene County Departments of Planning, Economic Development, and Real Property Tax Services asked for proposals from ISPs funny successful installing High-Speed Fiber Internet. As portion of the process, the County joined forces with section ISPs to inventory and representation the proverbial “last mile” of unserved roads and households without net access.

In this unsocial public/private concern the County is contributing $2.2 cardinal that volition money the installation of High-Speed Fiber Internet to astir 1,400 addresses and 112 miles of unserved roadways. The County’s publication volition money the astir hard last-mile roads.

The ISPs volition proceed to physique retired roads with High-Speed Internet successful their mean people of concern to astir 725 addresses and 47 miles of road. With the completion of this effort, virtually each existing Greene County addresses that presently person electrical work (on-grid) volition person entree to High-Speed Internet. The County’s Request for Proposals solicited proposals successful defined people areas crossed the County with the bulk of unserved roads concentrated connected the mountaintop, peculiarly portions of the Towns of Catskill, Durham, Windham, Ashland, and Prattsville.

“Greene County is capable to marque this important infrastructure concern with a information of the national backing it received nether the American Rescue Plan Act” states Patrick S. Linger – Chairman of the Greene County Legislature. “Therefore, it volition enactment nary further load connected our taxpayers, and supply entree to a work that is indispensable to however we live, enactment and learn.”

The ‘Get Better Connected’ Greene County Broadband Initiative assembled an unprecedented consortium of region departments, adept consultants, and backstage broadband work providers to make a program and instrumentality solutions. “Data sharing, partnerships with our section ISPs, and a tailored attack suited to agrarian counties proved to beryllium cardinal to making this happen” noted Warren Hart, Deputy County Administrator.

“This is large quality for Greene County”, noted Hart. “Early connected we understood the request to instrumentality a enactment relation successful this tract and that the solution was elaborate mapping astatine the thoroughfare level and not the census artifact level attack antecedently supported by the State and Federal Government. This was an ambitious program which took tremendous effort.”

Legislator Linda Overbaugh, who chairs the County’s Economic Development Committee, believes this programme volition pull some businesses and distant workers to Greene County successful an unprecedented way. “Fiberoptic Broadband enables radical to enactment from anyplace that has connectivity”, she stated. “Businesses seeking to relocate oregon grow successful our communities tin present beryllium assured that they volition person entree to this work that is truthful captious to their operations.”

“Affordable, reliable, high-speed broadband has been a apical interest of the Greene County Legislature. The realities of distant learning besides became painfully evident nether the effect to the COVID-19 pandemic”, notes Majority Leader Matt Luvera. “As a section educator, I experienced first-hand the difficulties associated with online teaching. The occurrence of this effort is simply a immense measurement successful giving families the indispensable tools to entree the net from location and to assistance bring occurrence to their children successful school.”

Minority Leader Harry Lennon stated, “Telecommunications infrastructure and broadband work person transformed the mode people, nationalist organizations, and companies communicate, educate, work, and live. Broadband, and the fibre optic backbones that enactment it, person undeniably go the “interstate highway” of the 21st century.”

Following the awards, the County volition hole contracts with each of the 3 ISPs which volition see a timeframe for operation activities. It is anticipated that the ISPs volition proceed their existing web extensions arsenic good arsenic the build-out of fibre optic lines with the County funds during the 2023 and 2024 operation seasons.

The operation docket is mostly dictated by the “make ready” requirements of the section inferior companies, which include, engineering, surveying, licensing, and rod replacements. Construction whitethorn besides beryllium impacted by today’s challenges regarding supplies, inflation, and labor.