Newport Telephone will make more than $11.6 million in investments in Fiber to the Home deployments in its existing service territory.
As part of Phase 2 of the New York Broadband Program, Newport Telephone will install fiber optic cable directly to homes and businesses in portions of Hamilton, Herkimer and Oneida counties.
The project encompasses portions of nine townships — Deerfield, Herkimer, Schuyler, Fairfield, Newport, Russia, Ohio, Norway and Morehouse.
Construction will commence this summer for the mainline routes and be ready for customer drops in a phased approach starting mid- to late-2018.
The broadband network build out will include more than 280 miles of new mainline fiber routes and the enabling of fiber drops to nearly 1,900 homes and businesses.
"We are significantly investing in new technology and our network infrastructure, allowing us to provide much faster and even more reliable broadband and other services to rural New York households and businesses in Hamilton, Herkimer and Oneida counties. This investment will afford our rural community growth opportunities that would not exist without broadband access and we are very excited over the increased capacity and reliability that we will be able to offer our customers," Joe Tomaino, vice president of operations and general manager of Newport Telephone, said in a news release.
The project will capitalize and expand on the knowledge and experience of Newport's network team, and will add on to its current and operational fiber based network, according to the release.
Using FTTH technology, Newport Telephone will bring these 1,900 homes and businesses the same reliable and robust services that other more populous areas have access to, according to the release.
"This is a game changer, as FTTH connections are the only technology with enough bandwidth to reliably and cost effectively handle projected consumer demands for the upcoming 15 to 20 years," Jim Becker, chairman of the board of Newport Telephone, said in the release. "Without the New York Broadband Program and Governor Cuomo's recognition of the importance of broadband infrastructure and the economic challenges of providing these services in rural areas, these solutions would not be available."