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Greene, Columbia counties worst in state for broadband

Mar 05, 2016 6:09 pm
Katie Kocijanski and John Mason report in The Daily Mail that 79 percent of Greene County residents and 74 percent of Columbia County residents don't have access to broadband of 6 megabits per second or better. Only one other county, Hamilton, has over 50 percent of its population without broadband access. Chris Gibson, who is running for governor against Andrew Cuomo, blames him. “I absolutely see the need for the broadband program, but Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposal makes it hard for rural areas to gain funding. It is more for urban areas,” Gibson told the paper on March 3. Columbia County Commissioner of Planning and Economic Development Ken Flood said that because the county's providers Time Warner Cable and Charter Communications are merging, the county will likely be ineligible for the state funding. Warren Hart, Greene County’s director of the Economic Development, Tourism and Planning Department, said last month that Lexington, Prattsville, Ashland, Windham,and Cairo are "unserved." State Senator George Amedore, a Republican who represents Greene County said, “I already had a face-to-face meeting with the governor and am waiting to hear back from his people.” Read the full story in The Daily Mail.