SULLIVAN COUNTY  — U.S. Senators Kirsten Gillibrand, Charles Schumer and Governor Kathy Hochul announced Wednesday that Sullivan County will receive nearly $30 million to enhance high-speed broadband internet access. 

Over 60,000 households and businesses will be connected via more than 1,200 miles of publicly-owned fiber-optic infrastructure and wireless hubs built throughout New York State with the investment, which is a component of a broader $140 million program.

This grant, which is the biggest project investment in Sullivan County’s history, will be used to expand multi-gigabit fiberoptic internet throughout the area in collaboration with Archtop Fiber. Up to 10 gigabits per second of upload and download rates can be achieved with this technology.

According to Sullivan County Manager Josh Potosek, it is anticipated to be fully functional by the end of 2026 according to the grant terms.

“This project will touch approximately 22,000 homes in the County,” explained Potosek. “It’s really exciting to see this $30 million come to fruition. Is one of the proudest moments in my career [as well as other County officials] and it is certainly something that can be transformative for us [in the County].” 

The goal of the project is to offer symmetric, reasonably priced internet service that has equal upload and download speeds and costs less than the average for the area.” 

“Additionally, the funds will be utilized to link Archtop’s system to Sullivan County’s emergency communication towers,” Potosek said, “enabling wireless internet coverage in places that are costly or challenging to reach with fiber.”