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Sean DeGe of Archtop outlines $300M Hudson Valley fiber plan, blames permit delays
Summary
Archtop representative Sean DeGe told the Hurley Town Board the company plans roughly $300 million in Hudson Valley fiber investment, has more than 20,000 customers, and is seeking local sign‑ups to make low‑density spur builds feasible after multi‑year permitting delays.
Sean DeGe, a presenter for Archtop, told the Hurley Town Board the company plans to invest about $300,000,000 to build a multi‑gig fiber‑optic network across the Hudson Valley and that the firm now has “over 20,000 customers, over a 120 employees.” He said the original target was roughly 250,000 homes passed but that the company is “significantly behind” schedule because of permitting and utility delays.
DeGe said the company’s network uses XGS‑PON fiber technology, which he described as lower‑power and higher‑capacity than legacy cable systems. He told the board Archtop expected a 115‑day permit cycle “contractually,” but in practice encountered average permit timelines of “roughly 500 to 600 days,” a gap he said has forced Archtop to carry material and finance costs while waiting on approvals. DeGe also said Archtop has won some public grants (including a $30,000,000 project in Sullivan County) but that in Ulster County the county government endorsed Verizon for certain grant funds rather than Archtop, leaving some of Archtop’s proposed Hurley overlay unserved.
Board members and residents pressed DeGe on pricing, service types and local revenue effects. DeGe confirmed Archtop provides voice (landline) service and said the company is E‑911 compliant; he also noted that the town’s franchise receipts from linear video will decline as more residents migrate from cable video to streaming, telling the board “every time we take a customer away from Spectrum, 5% of their video services don't come to the town anymore.” He said Archtop uses sign‑up drives and penetration modeling — for example, demonstrating higher subscription commitments in a 90‑home road — to persuade investors to fund builds in harder‑to‑serve areas.
DeGe offered to supply the town with more detailed maps and return for follow‑up meetings. He also encouraged residents to register interest so Archtop could demonstrate higher local penetration to investors and potentially accelerate construction in parts of Hurley that the company currently regards as marginal.
