Officials in Yates County say there’s more opportunity for residents to have their voices heard – as the state moves forward with expanding access to broadband in rural communities.
One major component of that state outreach effort involves the collection of data here. The Empire State Broadband effort is at least partly connected to giving voice to rural New Yorkers who want to see their community better connected.
“The need for rural broadband has never been more apparent than it is now and the timing of this Project couldn’t be better. Our recent USDA funding has been essential for turning our vision into a reality in these times of extra tight budgets and this additional data can be used by us to apply for more grants. Yates County currently keeps a running file of residents and businesses that are unserved or underserved and hopefully with this additional data from the survey, we can add to our list. I encourage our community members to take a few minutes and fill in the survey,” Yates County Administrator Nonie Flynn said.
The vision of the Yates County Legislature is that every premise in the County has access to affordable, reliable, high-speed internet. The County is moving towards this vision by applying for more grant monies.
The County’s current ReConnect Grant broadband project will soon move into a bid process to secure the Construction firm who will do the actual build. The goal is to start construction in the coming months. It will proceed in phases and once those are determined, residents will be able to track status and progress on the County’s ReConnect internet site at yatesconnect.org.
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