Morning Read: Massive internet buildout in St. Lawrence, Franklin counties
This from the Watertown Daily Times this morning. A $33 million Federal project will begin wiring thousands of North Country homes.
Philip J. Wagschal, Slic president and general manager, said the company will build 660 miles of fiber-optic cable that could provide service to 5,856 homes in St. Lawrence County. Service, to also include phone and video, will be available in the towns of Louisville, Norfolk, Stockholm, Hopkinton, Parishville, Waddington, Madrid, Potsdam, Lisbon, Canton, Pierrepont, Clare, Oswegatchie, Fine, Clifton and Piercefield.
In Franklin County, 136 miles of fiber-optic cable will be constructed, potentially providing service to 726 homes in the towns of Dickinson, Moira, Brandon, Bangor, Malone and Waverly.
Paired with the big internet project on the St. Regis-Mohawk Reservation, this project will expand broadband coverage to a big chunk of the North Country.
The price tag is high, but boosters see this as akin to the rural electrification of the 1930s — vital if small towns are to remain viable in the next century.
Tags: economy, technology
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These kinds of projects are exactly what the government should be doing more of for stimulus – instead of continuing tax cuts for millionaires.
So when do we get something in Hamilton County?
Good question.
Congratulations to those counties getting this grant. I wish it were happening here in Lewis County. And one last thing, can’t the reservation afford their own fiber optic line?
why do we give $$$ to the reservation in the first place? They want to be sovereign and we give $$$ to a sovereign country? They keep sales tax (or don’t charge it), they don’t pay real property tax or income tax and they consume many of our services, I say let them do it themselves!
Tim,
I get your point but if we were to do that, wouldn’t it be fair to pull funding from all sovereign countries including Israel?
I fail to see a problem with that Pete.