KINGSTON – Billions of federal and state funding will be distributed in the new year to fill areas where broadband is lacking, and Ulster County Comptroller March Gallagher is urging residents to speak up about voids in service.
The Federal Communications Commission has created a map, which is out for public review, showing areas not served by broadband service and Gallagher would like residents to participate in process.
“We want to make sure that anything that is not represented appropriately in the map that we file a challenge for it,” she said. “Ulster County is going to be filing a bulk challenge, but we also heard that it is important that it is important to have individuals and businesses, individual property owners, file their own challenge. So, we are hoping that people will take a look at the map and file a challenge if the federal government doesn’t have their broadband status correct.”
Gallagher has created a county Citizens Commission for Digital Inclusion that had identified over 1,100 properties not served by broadband and wants to ensure they are in the federal report.
