Broadband Infrastructure Inventory Study for Lewis County NY April 1, 2021 ECC Technologies 2136 Five Mile Line Road Penfield, NY 14526 The information in this report was gathered for the exclusive use of Lewis County and the Development Authority of the North Country for the purposes of analysis and planning. Broadband Infrastructure Inventory Study for Lewis County NY April 1, 2021 Table of Contents 1. Introduction .............................................................................................................................................. 6 1.1 The Digital Divide ................................................................................................................................ 6 1.2 Efforts to Close the Digital Divide ....................................................................................................... 7 Regional Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF). ........................................................................................ 11 1.3 Areas of Potential Eligibility for USDA ReConnect Grant .................................................................. 12 2. Commission of the Study ....................................................................................................................... 14 2.1 Research Methodology ..................................................................................................................... 15 2.2 GIS Mapping/Database ..................................................................................................................... 15 3. Broadband Infrastructure Overview ...................................................................................................... 16 3.1 Wireline Infrastructure – Copper, Coaxial, and Fiber Optic .............................................................. 16 Digital Line Subscriber (DSL) Service. .................................................................................................. 16 CATV/Coaxial Cable ............................................................................................................................. 17 Dark Fiber ............................................................................................................................................ 17 3.2 Central Offices (CO’s) ........................................................................................................................ 17 3.3 Utility Poles ....................................................................................................................................... 17 3.4 Water and Wireless Tower Structures. ............................................................................................. 18 5G Mobile / Cellular Technology ......................................................................................................... 18 4. Telecommunications Inventory ............................................................................................................. 22 4.1 Telecommunications Service Providers in the County ..................................................................... 22 4.2 ILECs, CLECs, and Region Wide Area Networks ................................................................................ 22 Frontier. .............................................................................................................................................. 22 Verizon. ............................................................................................................................................... 24 Telephone Company Fiber Routes and Fiber to the Home Areas ...................................................... 27 2 Competitive Local Exchange Carriers (CLECs) ..................................................................................... 27 Crown Castle. ...................................................................................................................................... 28 North Country Broadband. ................................................................................................................. 28 FirstLight. ............................................................................................................................................. 29 4.3 Cable Provider ................................................................................................................................... 29 4.4 Wireless Internet Service Providers (WISPs)..................................................................................... 32 Mohawk Networks .............................................................................................................................. 32 King Street Wireless ............................................................................................................................ 32 4.5 Satellite ............................................................................................................................................ 32 4.6 Cellular Service Providers .................................................................................................................. 33 4.7 Regional Wide Area Networks – DANC ............................................................................................. 34 4.8 Broadband Availability & Service Gaps ............................................................................................. 36 4.9 Broadband Providers and Speeds by Town and Zip Code. ............................................................... 41 Summary of Internet Providers by Location ....................................................................................... 43 5 County Telecommunications Summary ................................................................................................... 49 5.1 Summary of Findings:........................................................................................................................ 49 Local Providers. ................................................................................................................................... 49 Infrastructure. ..................................................................................................................................... 49 Spectrum. ............................................................................................................................................ 50 Alternative Providers. ......................................................................................................................... 50 Cellular Providers. ............................................................................................................................... 50 County Infrastructure .......................................................................................................................... 51 6. Next Steps ............................................................................................................................................... 52 6.1 Summary of Actions .......................................................................................................................... 52 Option 1. ............................................................................................................................................. 52 Option 2. ............................................................................................................................................. 53 6.2 Analysis ............................................................................................................................................. 53 6.3 Target Areas ...................................................................................................................................... 58 Appendix ..................................................................................................................................................... 59 Appendix A. Provider Service, Speeds and Costs ....................................................................................... 60 Spectrum Residential .............................................................................................................................. 61 Spectrum Business .................................................................................................................................. 62 3 Frontier Residential ................................................................................................................................. 63 Mohawk Networks .................................................................................................................................. 64 Verizon .................................................................................................................................................... 65 Appendix B USDA Reconnect ...................................................................................................................... 66 USDA Round 2 ReConnect Application Tasks: ........................................................................................ 67 Appendix C. Article Reprint ......................................................................................................................... 70 Appendix D Notes ....................................................................................................................................... 74 Appendix E. Glossary .................................................................................................................................