Media Contact: 
Mark Wigfield, (202) 418-0253
mark.wigfield@fcc.gov

For Immediate Release


FCC AUTHORIZES $39.2 MILLION IN FUNDING FOR 
RURAL BROADBAND IN NEW YORK
Funding Will Expand Broadband Access in 26 Rural New York Counties 
in Partnership with State

WASHINGTON, July 15, 2019—The FCC today authorized over $39.2 million in federal funding over the next decade to expand broadband to 15,442 unserved rural New York homes and businesses, in partnership with the state’s New NY Broadband Program.  Providers will begin receiving funding this month.

“Partnering with New York to expand broadband into unserved rural areas of the state was one of my first acts as Chairman,” said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai.  “Closing the digital divide is the FCC’s top priority, and I’m proud that this partnership will provide many rural New Yorkers with access to the opportunities that high-speed Internet offers.”

The federal funding is being provided through the FCC’s Connect America Fund, which is part of a broader effort by the FCC to close the digital divide in rural America.  Chairman Pai recently proposed launching a new Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, which would provide at least $20.4 billion over 10 years to expand broadband to additional rural areas.  If approved, this new Fund would represent the FCC’s single biggest step yet to close the digital divide.  The FCC is scheduled to vote on launching a rulemaking to establish the Fund on Aug. 1.

The New York funding applications authorized today in New York are as follows:

· GTEL Teleconnections will receive $854,652 over the next decade to expand broadband to 260 rural homes and businesses at downstream speeds of at least 100 Megabits per second and upstream speeds of 20 Mbps
· MTC Cable will receive $4.27 million over the next decade to expand broadband to 1,659 rural homes and businesses at downstream speeds of at least 100 Mbps and upstream speeds of 20 Mbps
· Otsego Electric Cooperative will receive nearly $4.3 million over the next decade to expand broadband to 1,146 rural homes and businesses at downstream speeds of at least 100 Mbps and upstream speeds of 20 Mbps
· SLIC Network Solutions will receive nearly $11.3 million over the next decade to expand broadband to 4,610 rural homes and businesses at downstream speeds of at least 100 Mbps and upstream speeds of 20 Mbps
· Verizon Communications will receive over $18.5 million over the next decade to expand broadband to 7,767 rural homes and businesses at downstream speeds of at least 100 Megabits per second and upstream speeds of 20 Mbps

Below is deployment by county, provider, and number of homes and businesses served (locations): 

County         
Provider
Locations
Cayuga
Verizon
1536
Clinton
SLIC
245
Clinton
Verizon
278
Columbia
GTEL
260
Cortland
Verizon
296
Delaware
MTC
386
Essex
SLIC
410
Franklin
SLIC
499
Fulton
Verizon
438
Greene
MTC
537
Herkimer
Otsego
131
Herkimer
Verizon
840
Jefferson
Verizon
693
Lewis
Verizon
57
Madison
Verizon
7
Montgomery
Verizon
222
Oneida
Verizon
689
Onondaga
Verizon
11
Oswego
Verizon
372
Otsego
Otsego
1015
Otsego
Verizon
91
Rensselaer
SLIC
3
Rensselaer
Verizon
190
Schenectady
Verizon
173
Schoharie
MTC
586
Schoharie
Verizon
81
St. Lawrence
SLIC
625
St. Lawrence
Verizon
1088
Sullivan
MTC
24
Tompkins
Verizon
16
Ulster
MTC
126
Washington
SLIC
2828
Washington
Verizon
689
Total

15,442

To comply with FCC rules, providers must build out to 40% of the assigned homes and businesses in the areas won in New York within three years.  Buildout must increase by 20% in each subsequent year, until complete buildout is reached at the end of the sixth year.

More information about the Connect America Fund is available at https://www.fcc.gov/general/connect-america-fund-caf.  

More information about the New NY Broadband program is available at 
https://nysbroadband.ny.gov/new-ny-broadband-program/phase-3-awards.

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This is an unofficial announcement of Commission action.  Release of the full text of a Commission order constitutes official action.  See MCI v. FCC, 515 F.2d 385 (D.C. Cir. 1974).