New NY Broadband Program

The New NY Broadband Program is the most recent precursor to ConnectALL. The ConnectALL Office is building on the foundation of the New York State’s earlier broadband investments, with new investments to ensure every household and business in the state has a reliable, fast, and affordable internet service as well as the skills necessary to participate in the digital economy.

Recognizing the importance of broadband infrastructure, in 2015 New York State established the $500 million New NY Broadband Program. It was the nation’s largest and most ambitious state investment in broadband with the goal of achieving statewide broadband access in New York. 

The program provided New York State grant funding to support projects that deliver high-speed internet access to unserved and underserved areas of the State. Under the New NY Broadband Program, “unserved” was defined as an area where the fastest available advertised internet download speed offered by a wireline-based provider is less than 25 Mbps.  An “underserved” area was defined as an area where broadband service is only available from a wireline-based provider at advertised internet download speeds between 25 Mbps and 99 Mbps.

Implemented in three phases and leveraging private investment, the Program allocated grant funding to qualified internet service providers through an innovative 'reverse auction' method.  Breakdowns of awarded grants can be found in the 'New NY Broadband Awards' section of this page.  For more information on the structure of the New NY Broadband Program, please see the Phase 3 RFP Guidelines.

Policy Guidance on Hardship Exceptions to ISP Service Commitments - This document provides guidance for Internet Service Providers under the New NY Broadband Program to address identified exceptions or circumstances in which an ISP will be released from an infrastructure buildout obligation.

New York State secured more than $1 billion in public and private investment to provide internet access to more than 2.42 million locations statewide.  At the time of its launch, the New NY Broadband Program was the largest State broadband investment in the nation.

Key successes of this historic internet expansion include:

• Approximately 90 percent of New NY Broadband Program funds addressed areas without any terrestrial high-speed broadband option, connecting these locations for the first time;
• The New NY Broadband Program resulted in the deployment of over 21,000 miles of fiber optic cable;
• The New NY Broadband Program supported over 120 individual projects, with 32 different companies;
• The majority (56%) of company-partners are either family-owned or non-profit cooperatives;
• Through a landmark partnership with the FCC, New York State secured up to $170 million in additional funding from the federal Connect America Fund 

Program Funding by Region

_{*Project totals are subject to approval by ESD's Board of Directors (§ 4. Section 10 of the Urban Development Corporation Act) and acceptance by awardees, thus totals may differ from final commitments.}

NYS Residential Broadband Availability Map: Enter an address to search on a map whether it received internet service through the New NY Broadband Program, which was administered by the ConnectALL Office. For current broadband availability please refer to the NYS PSC Broadband Map. This map shows providers who report offering internet service in a specific area. If this map does not accurately reflect the internet service providers that actually offer service to your home, we encourage you to let us know by using the feedback tab to the right of the map.

All Awards by Municipality 

View all New NY Broadband Awards by municipality (link will open excel doc in your downloads).

All Awards by Phase 

Phase 3 Awards

Phase 1 Awards

Awarded Census Blocks

View a list of Census Blocks awarded in Phases 1, 2, and 3 (link will open excel doc in your downloads).

Downloadable Shapefiles of census blocks awarded in Phases 1, 2, and 3 will be available soon.  Please contact us for more information.

The New NY Broadband Program built on New York State's prior commitments to expand access to broadband. Grant funding for broadband expansion projects has been awarded through the ConnectNY Broadband Grant Program and the Regional Economic Development Council Awards.

Regional Economic Development Council Broadband Awards

Round 4 Funding

Round 3 Funding

Round 2 Funding

Round 1 Funding

$25 Million ConnectNY Broadband Fund

What is the New NY Broadband Program?

Established in 2015, the New NY Broadband Program was the nation’s largest and most ambitious state investment in broadband expansion. The Program allocated State grant funding to qualified internet service providers to support projects capable of delivering high-speed internet access to Unserved and Underserved areas of New York State at speeds of 100 Megabits-per-second (Mbps) in most areas.  The Program formed public-private partnerships with more than 30 companies across the State, from family-owned telephone companies to nationally recognized telecom firms. 

How did the New NY Broadband Program identify areas to fund?

The ConnectALL Office (CAO) designated eligible Unserved and Underserved areas on a Census Block (CB) basis using broadband availability data from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) as a base layer. The CAO then incorporated additional data to provide enhanced availability information, such as prior State grant awards, provider service commitments, and confidential information received from Charter Communications. An “Unserved” area is defined as an area where the fastest available advertised Internet download speed offered by a wireline-based provider is less than 25 Mbps. An “Underserved” area is defined as an area where broadband service is only available from a wireline-based provider at advertised Internet download speeds between 25 Mbps and 99 Mbps. Broadband speed and availability data is sourced directly from the FCC’s Fixed Form 477 Broadband Deployment Data. For an explanation of the data, click here.

Further, recognizing the limitations of the FCC’s one-served/all-served methodology, the ConnectALL Office encouraged applicants to seek funding to address identified Unserved or Underserved locations within any Served CB on the CAO’s list of eligible CBs.

How is funding awarded through the New NY Broadband Program?

Broadband providers and organizations applied for State grant funding on a competitive basis to deploy broadband infrastructure to Unserved and Underserved Census Blocks (CBs) throughout the State. The Program allocated State grant funding through an innovative “reverse auction” method, which selected those projects providing broadband access at the lowest State investment per location passed. Funding was distributed to awarded providers on a reimbursement basis. Nearly 90 percent of all State grant funding was dedicated to projects that will address Unserved areas of the State, connecting these areas for the first time.

With the announcement of Phase III awards in 2018, grant monies levied by the New York State ConnectALL Office have been exhausted.

Who is the awarded provider for my location and/or municipality?

To identify the New NY Broadband Program awardee providing access to broadband to your location, you may consult the Broadband Availability Map.

Broadband Availability Map: Query your address and consult the tab for “BPO Award” in the results section at the bottom of the map. If the results do not include a “BPO Award” tab, your location has not been awarded for broadband service through the New NY Broadband Program. Note that the presence of a New NY Broadband Program award at your location does not guarantee that service is available today. A limited number of New NY Broadband Program-supported projects remain in active construction.. 

The “Currently Available Broadband” tab in the results section represents service currently available at your location according to FCC data and does not represent broadband service being deployed as a result of the New NY Broadband Program. Please refer to the NYS Broadband Availability Map Disclaimer for further information regarding the FCC’s method for mapping broadband service availability.

Please take note that toggling the transparency slider in the top left corner of the map will reveal road names and certain local details.

To identify the CAO awardee providing service to a specific municipality (county, town, etc), please refer to the New NY Broadband Awards section of this page.

Why did my location not receive an award from the New NY Broadband Program?

All Unserved and Underserved Census Blocks (CBs) statewide were eligible for funding through the New NY Broadband Program, except where the ConnectALL Office (CAO) identified a previous commitment for broadband service outside the Program.  The CAO removed CBs from our Program where an existing provider certified that it serves or would commit to serve the CB with high-speed Internet.

Further, the New NY Broadband Program was structured to work in conjunction with Charter Communications’ New York State Broadband Expansion Plan (as discussed below), through which the company is deploying new broadband access to 145,000 locations under conditions established by the New York State Public Service Commission. These locations were removed from eligibility within the Program, as to not allocate scarce funding to an area where a commitment to deliver broadband already exists.

What is the status of the New NY Broadband projects?

Awarded providers for Phase 1, 2, and 3 projects, announced in 2016, 2017, and 2018, respectively, are now offering broadband service to the vast majority of locations associated with their buildouts. Locations within Phase 1, 2, and 3 awarded territories may contact the awarded provider for a service installation or an update on the project.  Once network construction is complete, awarded providers are required to market the availability of grant-funded service within the project footprint, and begin connecting customers. You may contact the awarded provider at your location to inquire about the project and the availability of service.

If your location is addressed by a New NY Broadband Program award, you may identify the Program Phase and provider associated with the award by consulting the Broadband Availability Map. Query your address, and click the link contained in the “About BPO Awards” tab of the Results section.

What level of service (i.e., speed, technology) will the awarded provider be deploying to my location?

To identify which technology (Fiber-to-the-Home, Fixed Wireless, DSL, Satellite) is being utilized by the applicable provider at your address, you may consult the Broadband Availability Map. Query your address, and view the tabs for “Technology” and/or “Download Speed” in the Results section.

What are the customer costs associated with New NY Broadband projects?

Awarded providers must offer a required Broadband Pricing Tier (the “Required Pricing Tier”) as a service option to all residential users that delivers minimum Internet download speeds of at least 25 Mbps, at a monthly rate not to exceed $60, adjustable based on the cost of inflation in accordance with the terms of the Program Guidelines.

This $60 rate should include connection fees, standard modem equipment, and/or surcharges that exist at the time of the application; however, it may exclude a one-time installation fee.  The installation fee may not exceed $49 (regardless of whether the fee is paid in one or over several installments), except where providing service to a customer would require the applicant to make a connection in excess of 300-feet, measured as the offset from the road to the typical termination point on the customer’s premises.  In such cases, the awarded provider may charge a custom installation fee in excess of $49.

It is anticipated that awarded providers will offer additional service options alongside the Required Pricing Tier.

Why has my location been awarded to Hughes Network Systems to provide satellite service?

New NY Broadband Program awards were allocated through a competitive reverse-auction process, and Hughes was awarded Unserved Census Blocks, in general, where there were no other fully-qualifying bids, or where there was insufficient Program funding.

How will the grant-funded service provided by Hughes Network Systems differ from the company's current commercial offerings?

New NY Broadband Program funding enabled Hughes to deploy its new Gen5 satellite broadband service offering download speeds of at least 25 Mbps to the awarded Census Blocks.  

The grant-supported service plans offered by Hughes in awarded Census Blocks are described below.  Once the service plans are made available, constituents may contact Hughes to determine their eligibility for grant-supported service and subscribe. As required by the Program, both of these plans deliver Internet speeds of at least 25/3 Mbps (download/upload) for a monthly rate not to exceed $60 with an installation fee not to exceed $49, much lower rates than Hughes’ current commercial pricing for the Gen5 service. 

• 100 Gigabyte (GB) Plan – Available in Census Blocks that received New NY Broadband Program funding; Monthly data allowance of 100 GB (20 GB between 8am-2am, 80 GB off-peak)
• 150 Gigabyte (GB) Plan – Available in Census Blocks that received Connect America Fund Support; Monthly data allowance of 150 GB (100 GB between 8am-2am, 50 GB off-peak)

Each plan has a monthly usage allowance.  Exceeding a monthly data allowance may result in Hughes slowing service, however, users will have unlimited data at the reduced speed for no additional cost.  Hughes has committed to use best efforts to deliver download speeds of 3 Mbps where a user’s data allowance is exceeded, but actual speeds may vary based on traffic levels.  Additionally, for the grant-supported service, Hughes has committed to meet a minimum latency standard of 95 percent or more of all peak period measurements of network round trip latency less than 1 second.

I am an existing customer with Hughes Network Systems. Will I be able to sign-up for a grand-funded service package once it's available?

Existing Hughes customers located within Census Blocks where Hughes has been awarded funding can subscribe to the grant-funded service.

The Broadband Availability Map indicates that a broadband provider(s) provides service at my address. When I contact that provider, it states that it does not provide service at my address. Why is this?

The broadband service availability and characteristics represented on the Broadband Availability Map is derived from the Federal Communication Commission's (FCC) Fixed Form 477 Broadband Deployment Data which includes biannual broadband service provider submissions. The FCC uses a one-served, all-served method for identifying Census Block service, and, therefore, actual service may vary within and along Census Blocks. A provider that reports deployment of a particular technology and bandwidth in a particular Census Bock may not necessarily offer that particular service everywhere in the Census Block. Accordingly, a list of providers deployed in a Census Block does not necessarily reflect the number of choices available to any particular household or business location in that block. Because of this method, in some areas, the ConnectALL Office (CAO) awards may fund unserved or underserved locations within a Census Block that appears to have existing access to 100 Mbps. The raw data can be downloaded here.

What is Charter Communications' New York Sate Broadband Expansion Plan?

In 2016, Charter Communications acquired Time Warner Cable. In approving this merger, the New York State Public Service Commission established a number of conditions relating to Charter’s improvement and expansion of broadband service across the State.  Among these conditions, Charter committed to offer upgraded broadband service – to download speeds of 100 Megabits per-second (Mbps) by the end of 2018, and 300 Mbps by the end of 2019 – to customers across its existing statewide network. Charter also committed to extend its network to pass an additional 145,000 locations without broadband access at no State cost on a four-year schedule.  Charter reported completing this network extension in September 2021 and the New York State Public Service Commission (PSC) is currently reviewing to ensure full compliance.   

Please note that Charter Communications is not a participant in the New NY Broadband Program. Inquiries regarding the Charter build out should be directed to the PSC. If you would like to reach out to the PSC with any questions regarding the Charter build out, you may do so at [email protected] or 1-800-342-3377.

What is the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF)? Will I receive broadband service through RDOF?

The Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) is a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) program designed to close the digital divide in the United States by providing grant investment to eligible internet service providers for the construction of rural broadband networks. To learn if your location was awarded RDOF funding, you may query your address here: RDOF Phase 1 Results Map. More information on RDOF, including required timelines to extend service, is available on the FCC’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund website.

I have additional questions about the Program and/or coverage to my location.

If you would like information about whether new broadband service will be made available to a specific location through the New NY Broadband Program, please click here.  Results marked “BPO Award” denote providers supported by the Program for your address, and the current status of their projects. If you would like information about when service may be available in your location, please contact the service provider directly.

If you have questions or comments about Charter Communication's Broadband Expansion Plan, please contact Spectrum customer service or the New York State Public Service Commission at [email protected].  Please note that Charter was not a participant in the New NY Broadband Program.

For all other inquiries, please contact the ConnectALL Office directly.