Bringing high-speed internet to the people has become an important focus for politicians in this day and age, which is why New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has announced a $1 billion plan that he hopes will bring high-spreed internet to every household in the state by 2019, something that he describes as the largest investment in broadband ever in the United States.
With a $1 billion plan, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo hopes to have every New Yorker hooked up to high-speed internet by 2019. The administration is billing it as the largest state investment in universal broadband in the country. Just how fast are we talking, here? In most cases, the program calls for providers to offer at least 100 Mbps, or as Chief Digital Officer Rachel Haot described it at a press conference, “more than 10 times the federal definition of ‘broadband.'” The plan, known as the New New York Broadband Program (yes, that is two “News”) would include $500 million in capital funds (taken from recent bank settlements). The state wants those funds to serve as an incentive for private companies by offering 1:1 financial matching for broadband providers willing to invest their own money — hence the $1 billion total size. The program is part of Cuomo’s 2015 State of Opportunity Agenda and although those matching funds call for providers to offer at 100 Mbps speeds in most cases, it does allow for as low as 25Mbps in extremely remote areas of the state.
