Matthew Hamilton reports in the Albany Times-Union that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced his plans to raise $1 billion from government and private sources to make high-speed broadband available statewide on Oct. 8. Cuomo called for $500 million in state investment for the New NY Broadband Fund, and matching outlays from companies that want to apply to provide the service to any given area, in an effort to lay 6,000 miles of fiber optic cables across the state. "Broadband availability is going to be what the interstate road system was in the '50s," Cuomo said, speaking in Colonie at the fuel cell manufacturer Plug Power. "The way you needed road access and access to basic utilities to do business, electric and phone — you're going to need access to broadband if you're going to be competitive." Of course, there is an election next month, both the reason for the announcement, and the results of which Cuomo will have to wait for to see if he can make universal broadband happen. See the Albany Times-Union for the full story.