News stories tagged with "broadband"

(10/06/11) State Senator Betty Little sounded a familiar note Tuesday when she called for big gaps in cell phone and internet service in the North Country to be closed--for safety's sake and for the economy. more

(06/24/11) The annual Agriculture Appropriations Act passed by the U.S. House last week made sweeping cuts to programs ranging from infant nutrition to genetically engineered salmon.

Thanks to an amendment sponsored by Rep. Bill Owens, it still includes some funding for expansion of broadband Internet to rural areas. The Owens amendment saved $6 million.

That's still a significant cut from the original $22 million and even the reduced allocation is subject to approval by the U.S. Senate.

Either way, many rural residents will be left with the much slower dial-up Internet.

Slic Network Solutions is a Potsdam-based Internet provider. The Company has been using funding from last year's appropriations bill to expand high-speed access along dozens of rural North Country roads. That money isn't affected by the latest cuts.

Slic's President, Phil Wagschal, told Steve Knight that's OK for now, but in the long-term, more government help is vital. more

(01/14/11) The North Country has had mixed success in winning Federal stimulus dollars to expand broadband internet service to rural towns and villages. But the Essex County town of Keene has moved forward with a grassroots effort, using a mix of grants and local fund raising, along with new, less expensive technology.

As Chris Morris reports, the organizers hope their project will serve as a model for other communities in the region. more

(10/04/10) Across the North Country, economic development leaders say broadband internet access is one key to building more jobs and new prosperity.

But the infrastructure for broadband is expensive, often requiring miles of expensive fiber-optic cable.

Groups across the region have been asking for help from the Federal government to help offset the cost.

As Brian Mann reports, they met with mixed success - with some areas still struggling to find funding. more

(12/18/09) Almost $50 million in federal and state stimulus money will go towards building a better broadband network across upstate New York. The Development Authority of the North Country, based in Watertown, and Albany-based telecommunications firm, ION, will run the project. Martha Foley has more. more

(09/11/09) The Adirondack Park Agency approved two new cell phone towers yesterday. Verizon and T-Mobile will build separate towers near the High Peaks rest stop on the Adirondack Northway. These projects come at a time when cell phone service in the Park is expanding rapidly, after years of debate and delay. North Country Public Radio's Brian Mann reports.

(09/09/09) Clarkson University held its Forever Wired conference on Tuesday in Potsdam. It's part of a push over the next decade to attract more than 2,000 highly paid telecommuters to the region. John Warren is one of the telecommuters who attended yesterday's conference. He edits the "Adirondack Almanack" blog in the town of Chester. Warren also works from his home as a writer for clients outside the region, including Maryland Public Television. He told Brian Mann that his lifestyle in the mountains could be a good fit for a lot more people - but it's not right for everyone.

(09/03/09) Yesterday, we reported on the effort to bring broadband internet access to more of the North Country. Developers of those high speed data lines hope to attract more traditional bricks-and-mortar businesses. But they also hope to build a new culture of telecommuters in the region: people who work for global companies or develop new on-line businesses while living in small towns and mountain valleys. Brian Mann has our story.

(09/02/09) Next week in Potsdam, Clarkson University will host a conference called "Forever Wired." It's part of a project called the Adirondack Initiative For Wired Work. The goal is to bring more than 2,000 new corporate telecommuters to the North Country. These are people who would live here while using the internet to work for companies around the world. Tomorrow, we'll look the promise and some the challenges of telecommuting in our rural area. This morning, Brian Mann reports on the decade-long struggle to bring high-speed internet access into more remote communities.

(05/26/09) Workers in the town of Keene, in Essex County, are stringing new fiber cable that will bring high-speed internet access to hundreds of homes that had relied on much slower dial-up access. The project, funded in part with a state economic development grant, is seen as a model for bringing broadband access to rural North Country towns. As Brian Mann reports, the organizers hope that the project will open Keene to new kinds of economic activity.