Seventeen counties throughout central and northern New York are surveying their residents about their broadband experience, and they are all using one company, ECC Technologies, of Rochester.
“We’ve been doing this for 25 years,” said Joe Starks, ECC’s president. “We’ve worked in almost every county in New York State.”
His company helps communities and for-profit companies look for holes in broadband coverage, surveys people about their internet use, helps design networks to expand coverage or fill gaps and will help a community make sure the implementation of the design is followed properly, Starks said. His company does not lay the cable or install the networks.
In the north country, the focus now is on surveys.
As part of the overall process, the company drives through the countryside and physically surveys the infrastructure of the county and then surveys households about their experience, officials have said.
At stake is hundreds of millions of dollars in New York State and federal funding. Although Gov. Andrew Cuomo “pocket vetoed” a bill this year requiring a statewide survey and map, grant money is still available for counties and regions.
As well, the U.S. Department of Agriculture under its Reconnect Loan and Grant program may have hundreds of millions more, should Phase 3 of the program open, said Dave Wolff of AdkAction, an advocacy group working to assuage food insecurity, broadband access and other needs inside the Adirondack Park. The USDA program offers a mix of loans and grants, some requiring matching dollars.
"You've got to have this data in hand, before they announce" the grant deadlines, Wolff said.
With the help of ECC, Yates County in the western Finger Lakes won $10.3 million for broadband improvements from the federal government in 2018. This is why other counties have chosen them, Wolff said.
Jim Siplon, president of the Warren County Economic Development Corp., said all of the surveying will help the region as it advocates for better broadband access. Warren County has about a month left on its survey of households.
Starks said his company has crediblity with grant sources because, “We do a lot of digging.” The data finds not only where broadband internet is but whether or not people are using it.
Siplon said that 17 counties moving in the same direction creates inertia.
"We need to go lock arms and work on this together," he said.
"There isn't any question about methodology. There isn't any question about working with others,” when everyone is using the same system, Siplon said during the EDC board meeting Tuesday.
Wolff said in order to gain a regional understanding of the problem, leadership needs consistent data, which ECC should be producing.
He said, "We'd like to come up with data sharing across the counties."