A county staff presenter disputed a critique on a local advocacy website that said Columbia County had fallen behind other New York counties in applying for broadband funding, and outlined steps county officials say have reduced the number of unserved addresses substantially.
The presenter said the county’s 2015 inventory (by ECC Technologies) originally identified about 3,000 unserved and 10,000 underserved addresses. Since then, he said, the county and state reconciled provider data and reduced the list to “less than 750 addresses” remaining unserved, and that only three addresses were left where providers had not indicated interest in serving them on a recent state list.
Responding to Columbia Forward’s claim that the county’s broadband committee had met only once and had left “others to pursue” funding, the presenter said he had monthly calls with local stakeholders and had spoken with state broadband officials and local municipal leaders. He said eligibility for large state grants often depended on densely concentrated address clusters and municipal capacity; Sullivan and Schoharie had different circumstances that made them eligible for particular state awards.
The presenter said the state has asked Columbia County to pilot a study to identify up to 12 candidate wireless or tower sites per town to test coverage (a proposed seven‑month, roughly $60,000 study). He said the county is exploring whether existing digital equity or other grant funds could be used for a local pilot and noted a recent Verizon tower approval in Stuyvesant.
The presentation acknowledged that wireless solutions may be necessary in some corridors and said the state will publish revised criteria for providers to bid on remaining addresses in September.
Quotes in this article are attributed to the unnamed county staff member who gave the broadband update and to named third parties cited in the presentation.