Rural Onondaga County residents will receive wider broadband internet - WRVO Public Media

Broadband is coming to hundreds of Onondaga County residents who don’t person it. Verizon is signing connected to instal fibre optic cables successful broadband deserts, aft a woody announced Tuesday with region officials.

By aboriginal 2024, Verizon expects to deploy 214 miles of fibre optic lines successful respective much agrarian areas the county, getting precocious velocity net to 1,500 households that don’t person it now. Anthony Lewis, a Verizon vice president, admits getting fibre optic cablegram successful agrarian areas similar the municipality of LaFayette southbound of Syracuse, tin beryllium a challenge.

"You’re laying a portion of fiber, a portion of glass, wrapped of course," Lewis said. "We’re stringing it up successful the lines you spot today, successful astir instances, they’re aerial. But topography successful immoderate signifier oregon size, volition dilatory that process. truthful it’s virtually getting from our cardinal office, which is crossed the street, from determination to wherever the furthest location oregon concern is."

The full task volition costs $18 million. Onondaga County volition usage astir $11 cardinal successful American Rescue program funding, and Verizon volition spot successful the rest. Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon said the request for much reliable net entree was evident during the pandemic, and has go much imperative successful airy of Micron’s program to put $100 cardinal dollars successful the assemblage implicit the adjacent decade.

"When we’re talking astir a assemblage that’s 477,000 radical today, but we cognize what’s coming, is apt implicit 600,000 radical wrong 5 to 10 years, this infrastructure is needed for these communities to vie for investment," McMahon said.

County Legislator Dave Knapp, who represents LaFayette, said different positive is this offers consumers a integer choice,

"Ninety-nine percent of the country present is 1 provider, and truthful you’re truly astatine the mercy of that 1 provider," Knapp said. "And by bringing successful contention due to the fact that Verizon is going to beryllium stringing ligament to get to those dormant spots, going by a batch of unrecorded spots, and truthful that’ll bring successful competition."

Verizon says it has a wide scope of Fios work plans that commencement astatine $25 a month. The caller broadband work volition screen each areas of the region that presently bash not person it.