New York State Governor Announces $1 Billion High Speed Internet Initiative

Andrew Cuomo, New York State Governor, has laid out a detailed and fresh program that is going to give a new lease of life to broadband in the state. Cuomo has spoken of this initiative prior to this, but now the New York State Governor has given more details regarding the program.

The focus of the project is to drastically improve both the speed and access that is available throughout the state. In order to achieve these goals, the program offers $500 million in public funding that Internet Service Providers will be able to access. There is a slight catch though, in order for them to do that, they must be able to match the state’s contribution dollar for dollar, thereby increasing the total cost of this initiative to $1 billion.

The governor wants to provide ISPs with an incentive to enhance their networks and offer quicker speeds with this initiative. Governor Cuomo has said that the companies must provide download speeds of at least 100 Mbps and that the funding priority will be decided upon the firms who deliver the highest speeds at the lowest possible costs.

The speed of 100 Mbps is not a necessary condition for all locations. For example, in the most “remote unserved and underserved areas of the state” providers only have to ensure  speeds of at least 25 Mbps, the caveat is that they must have the infrastructure in place that can eventually be scaled up to speeds of 100 Mbps.

Governor Andrew Cuomo points out that “We’re launching the largest state broadband investment in the nation,” and that its likely to improve the lives of the citizens of this state. Cuomo has given this $1 billion initiative his full backing, but until this program gets approval from the state legislature it is not going to be completed.

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SOURCE: http://www.ubergizmo.com/2015/01/new-york-governor-announces-1-billion-broadband-initiative/