Committee Encourages Service Providers to Reach Out

For Immediate Release
3/30/09

The St. Lawrence County Information Technology Committee encourages telecommunications service providers to contact the committee if they plan to expand broadband service coverage in St. Lawrence County through application of funds made available through the economic stimulus package.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, better known as the economic stimulus package, contains a total of $7.2 billion in funding for the development of broadband services in the United States. Two agencies – the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (“NTIA”) and the Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service (“RUS”) – are responsible for administering these funds. The broadband initiatives funded in the Recovery Act are intended to spur job growth and accelerate broadband deployment in unserved, underserved and rural areas and to strategic institutions that are likely to create jobs or provide significant public benefit.

The committee points out that St. Lawrence County should serve as a model community for the funding. The committee’s 2008 survey identified that, while all the population centers and many of the secondary communities enjoy high speed access of one flavor or another, there is still much to be done to achieve universal access. Because of St. Lawrence County’s sprawling geography and low population density there remains significant gaps in service availability from one end of the County to the other. More than a third of County households are still waiting for a solution when it comes to accessing high speed Internet service.

It is the committee’s goal to be fair and equitable to all service providers in the hopes of identifying the best possible solution for St. Lawrence County. Interested providers should contact committee chairperson Laura Perry at (315) 265-4233 or laurap@slic.com.


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