Cuomo Announces $1 Billion Broadband Grant Program

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Jan. 16 announced a new $500 million matching grant program to incentivize broadband providers to get high-speed broadband to everyone in New York by 2019.

That will swell to a billion since broadband providers will have to engage in a one-to-one match. High speed will be defined as at least 100 Mbps, with some 25 Mbps allowed in the most rural areas, saleable to 100 Mbps, if that is the fastest and best way to get fast broadband to everybody.

Under the plan, regional economic development councils will submit a plan to the state identifying unserved and underserved areas, identifying demand in both residential and business sectors, and "leveraging state-owned assets" wherever possible.

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John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.