Mapping NY State Broadband Access

Even before the Covid-19 pandemic arrived and forced so many aspects of our life online, the necessity of having access to fast, reliable broadband internet service was becoming clear. Now as our families have had to adjust to virtual school, remote work telemedicine visits and more, broadband has become indispensable to fully participating in society.
 
Unfortunately for far too many New Yorkers, this essential utility is unavailable or prohibitively expensive.
 
They say knowledge is power and the first step to overcoming a problem is to fully understand it. If New York State is going to ensure its residents have access to broadband, it first needs to understand what locations are most in need so that state and local leaders know where to direct resources.
 
To help accomplish that, New York State has partnered with a team to identify areas of the state that lack the access to broadband and NYSAC is helping to spread the word.
 
We need your help!
 
You can help the effort to comprehensively map NY's broadband in 3 easy steps:

1. Visit www.empirestatebroadbandtoolkit.com to learn more about the project
   
   
2. Identify who you can enlist to help – an email list, your Facebook followers, yout Christmas card list, anyone in your county!
    
3. Encourage them to take the survey at www.empirestatebroadband.com

 
The more responses we obtain, the better positioned your county will be to move forward!
 
Visit www.empirestatebroadbandtoolkit.com to learn more about the project as well as download sample press releases, emails to constituents, social media posts and flyers that you can use to help spread the word.
 
NYSAC will continue advocating to the state for increased funding for broadband and rural cellular infrastructure, as well as seeking regulatory changes that will help spur investment in last-mile connection. To read more about our priorities for broad band and more, visit www.nysac.org/advocacy.