Here’s What You Need to Know About Fiber Coming to Rural New York

New York’s ConnectALL Program

New York is one of the few states that’s implemented substantive state-level broadband programs, and one of its biggest is the ConnectALL program. It was created as part of New York’s WIRED Broadband Act, which will invest over $1 billion in rural and urban areas statewide. ConnectALL oversees the statewide digital equity plan and administers these public investments across the state.

The program’s goal is to bridge the digital divide in New York state by giving those in rural areas access to reliable, affordable, high-speed internet to help them with education, economic growth, and full participation in civic life. The program highlights the importance of internet access to all New Yorkers and the state’s responsibility to ensure universal access for its citizens.

ConnectALL began launching pilot programs in early 2022 in the Village of Sherburne, southeast of Syracuse.

A major step toward universal broadband access in New York

This latest round of municipal infrastructure grants massively expands upon ConnectALL’s successful pilot projects, funding infrastructure construction across the state. The $140 million in grants will go toward installing publicly owned, open-access fiber optic networks in rural areas of Central New York, the Finger Lakes, Mohawk Valley, North Country, Mid-Hudson and Western New York regions.

Because they’re publicly owned, multiple service providers can use these fiber networks.  Not only will rural New Yorkers have access to high-speed internet connections, they’ll also have more consumer choice—something that is usually lacking in rural areas.

Treating broadband as a basic utility also helps to ensure universal access to all households in these communities. It’s common for some neighborhoods to fall through the cracks between different provider networks, even in highly connected urban areas. It’s incredibly frustrating when streets on either side of your house have access to a different fiber provider, but neither seems interested in extending coverage to your street. New York’s approach avoids these issues while creating more competition in the internet marketplace.

New York also expands broadband access in other ways, such as mandating affordable broadband prices.

We need more state-level infrastructure investment

These infrastructure grants are great news if you live in upstate New York. While several states follow New York’s lead, many of those most in need of broadband infrastructure improvements have little, if any, investment on the state level. With federal programs like the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) going unsupported, states can’t continue to pass the buck on these problems.

It’s difficult to predict how telecom policy will change in 2025 when the Trump Administration takes office, but broadband infrastructure should still be a priority. Much of Trump’s voter base lives in the states that most benefited from programs like the ACP. Senator Vance, Trump’s running mate, was one of the initial cosponsors of the bipartisan ACP funding bill.

Federal funding for internet infrastructure will likely start to pivot away from fiber and toward satellite due to Elon Musk’s association with the incoming administration. Satellite internet has certainly improved dramatically over the past few years, but fiber is still the best option. This means that folks in Upstate New York would have a definite advantage over people in other rural parts of the U.S.

Those of us who don’t live in New York shouldn’t accept that poor internet service and limited options are the norm. We should raise awareness about our underserved communities and look for providers that meet our needs. Many countries have invested in internet infrastructure by setting up the same kinds of public-private partnerships that New York uses. Your state could do the same.