Salway: “A need for broadband”
MONTICELLO – Hardly a month goes by without the lack of wide broadband
Internet coverage coming up when Sullivan County lawmakers get together.
Wide areas of the rural county with a relatively small population don’t
have it.
There may be hope with a new approach being put forth at the state level,
called the New NY Broadband Program. The program will offer $500 million
in public funds for internet service providers willing to match the state
dollar-for-dollar.
The director of the State Broadband Program Office was in Monticello on
Friday, addressing about 75 citizens, along with local and county officials.
David Salway said the goal of the Cuomo administration, by 2019, just
four years from now, is to have all of the state, including all of Sullivan
County, meeting the minimum broadband standard of 100 megabytes per second
(MBS).
“Every sector really has a need for broadband access and the idea
is to drive utilization and adoption up so it makes the provider incentive
to invest much greater because they’re looking at a revenue opportunity
for the years to come.
That has not been happening in Sullivan County, notes County Legislator
Cora Edwards.
“I’m hoping that with this universal access push, there will
be greater incentives for providers to be in an area like this.”
Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther, of Forestburgh, said there are personal
stories of how not having access to modern communications, in the 21st
century, can affect lives.
“I remember there was a story and it was actually from Willowemoc
that a gentleman waiting for a transplant and he didn’t get the
call and they couldn’t get him by the Internet, so we really need
something to make sure that peole can communicate,” Gunther said.
“And, you know, it’s 2015; it’s time.”
Gunther is optimistic about the new state program.
So is Edwards. “I think the fact that they’re using the words
‘universal service’ makes a big difference to the way that
we’re going to move forward in Sullivan County, because when we
hear the word ‘universal’, we mean ‘universal’,
whether it’s people that are underserved, meaning they don’t
have the speed they want, or whether they’re not served, meaning
that Internet service doesn’t come to their homes.”
Edwards said at the county level, Sullivan needs a dedicated telecommunications
resource person who can tie all of the municipalities together.
