What Spectrum's deal with New York State means to consumers – The Buffalo News
Charter Communications will begin offering high-speed internet to several rural customers following a preliminary agreement announced Friday between the company and New York State regulators. The agreement, if it was finally approved by the Government Public Service Commission, would decide that the Charter – which operates under the brand name Spectrum – has not sufficiently expanded its broadband network.
But how does this affect current Spectrum subscribers? And who will get these new connections? Below are answers to the most pressing questions on Friday's deal.
What gave Spectrum under the preliminary agreement?
Under this new agreement, Spectrum must do two things: expand its high-speed broadband service to a further 80,1[ads1]73 upstate homes and businesses by September 30, 2021, and pay $ 12 million to help expand broadband to suburban areas .
Spectrum had previously agreed to extend the service to 145,000 new addresses by May 2018 as a condition for its merger with Time Warner Cable. Spectrum has added nearly 65,000 new connections so far, says the agreement and leaves 80,000 for future installation.
Where are these new connections going?
Of the 80,000 new connections, Spectrum can install up to 3,500 in total in Buffalo, Rochester, Albany, Schenectady, Mount Vernon and Syracuse. However, most of the installations must be located outside these cities, in upstate areas lacking internet infrastructure, which can provide download speeds of 100 megabits per second or more. Locally, it just means rural communities such as Somerset, Hartland and Concord.
It's less clear who will benefit from $ 12 million. Spectrum must also pay against two separate "incremental building" funds. The money will be used to develop broadband networks in locations selected by the Department of Public Service, under the agreement.
Will the deal do anything with West New York's "digital deserts"?
Not the worst, no. A census report from December 2018 showed that more than half of all households lack internet service in some Buffalo, Niagara Falls and Lockport neighborhoods. But experts say that the low connectivity rates are related to costs, not availability. In fact, FCC records show that the vast majority of Erie and Niagara counties are connected to 100 Mbps broadband already.
That said, there are pockets of Wilson, Royalton, Lewiston and Collins, as well as the aforementioned cities, which lack that level of broadband service. They can be challengers for the new connections.
Will this improve the service for existing Spectrum customers?
Probably not. Under the agreement, Spectrum cannot count network upgrades against the 80,000 connectivity requirement. But Spectrum says it has significantly improved service in New York since the 2016 merger with Time Warner Cable. (Speed-testing services still rank Spectrum among the country's slower vendors on average, however.)
What other efforts are being made to bring broadband to suburban areas?
Since its launch in 2015, the statewide New NY Broadband Program has invested $ 820,000 to expand access to Erie and Niagara counties, mainly via satellite Internet. Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz has also promoted a $ 20 million plan to build a high-speed county-created "backbone" fiber ranging from Grand Island to Sardinia.
What's next?
] This plan faces a 60-day public comment period and a final review by the Public Service Commission. Then, Spectrum begins to lay the cable: The first temporary deadline is September 30.