Broadband Grants Announced; Otsego County a Recipient

Governor Andrew Cuomo announced Friday that Empire State Development has approved $9 million in broadband grants.

The money is to provide broadband access for about 33,000 households, 4,500 businesses and 55 community  institutions in upstate New York. The five projects receiving New York State Broadband Grants are:

Essex County Broadband Service Expansion (Essex County) – $557,000
Otsego County Wireless Network (Otsego County) – $558,940
Time Warner Cable Broadband (Various Counties) – $5,258,231
North Country Telecommunications Loan Fund (Various Counties) – $500,000
North Country Public Emergency Network (Various Counties) – $2,222,000

The Time Warner Cable grant is to expand services to municipalities across seven regions of the state.

More than 500,000 New Yorkers are unable to access broadband, and another six million citizens facing significant obstacles to internet connectivity.