FairPoint snags $36.7M to bolster New York rural broadband

FairPoint, which is in the process of being acquired by Consolidated Communications, has been awarded $36.7 million in New York Broadband Phase 2 grants, enabling it to more effectively expand broadband in rural parts of the state.

These grants, which will be combined with about $9.3 million of FairPoint’s own investments, will support the extension and upgrading of high-speed broadband service to 10,321 locations in the Company’s New York service territory.

During the next two years, FairPoint plans to upgrade existing equipment and extend its fiber reach to provide faster broadband speeds to underserved areas with a priority of reaching unserved locations, libraries and educational opportunity centers with enhanced service.

RELATED: Consolidated’s Udell: FairPoint acquisition will drive Ethernet scale, ease price compression pains

Bob Udell, president and CEO of Consolidated Communications, said in a release that winning funding for the New York program will further solidify its own commitment to expand broadband in its soon be expanded network territory.

“We believe this effort aligns precisely with our strategic priority to enhance and extend fiber networks and to bring high-speed broadband access to communities we serve,” Udell said.

In 2015, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo established the $500 million New NY Broadband Program, which provides New York State grant funding to support projects that deliver high-speed Internet access to unserved and underserved areas of the State, with a priority on unserved areas, libraries and Educational Opportunity Centers. Cuomo set an ambitious goal to achieve statewide broadband access in New York by the end of 2018.