The $70.7 million given is in addition to the $12 million from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Connect America Fund (CAF) and an investment of approximately $24.5 million brings the total funds to $106.6 million. The money will support Verizon in its deployment of high-speed broadband to 15,500 rural locations in upstate New York.
Commenting on the news, Leecia Eve, vice president of state government affairs for the Tri-State region at Verizon, said: “We applaud Governor Cuomo for his leadership in establishing the most robust broadband program in any state in our nation. At Verizon, we don’t wait for the future, we build it. This historic partnership will expand high-speed broadband access to thousands of New Yorkers and will better connect our communities. This work will be done by our highly skilled and compensated workforce and will enable all of New York State to better compete in the global economy,”
Verizon said that it will use its relationship with Corning Inc, the multinational technology company, to expand its broadband network to underserved communities, through the use of Cornings fibre optic cable and hardware technologies.
In April 2017, Verizon struck a $1.05 billion deal with Corning to buy up to 20 million kilometres of fibre cable and associated hardware per year from 2018 to 2020. At the time the company said it would use the fibre to boost the coverage and capacity of its nationwide broadband network, as it upgrades its network to support 4G, and in preparation for 5G.
“We are pleased to partner with New York State and the FCC to achieve our common goal of increasing broadband access for unserved and underserved areas in the State,” added Kevin Service, senior vice president of wireline operations for Verizon.
Verizon says it invests nearly $2 billion in its wireline and wireless networks, employs more than 18,000 people in New York State and will use this partnership to invest millions more under the New York Broadband Fund.
Earlier this month Verizon expanded its network to Edgecast content network to France, Mexico and South Africa and has tripled network capacity. The company says that its Verizon Digital Media Services division has launched network points of presence (PoPs) in Mexico and in South Africa, with plans to open an additional super PoP in France before the end of March 2018.
