Hochul Announces $15.5 Million to Expand Broadband and Mobile Access

WASHINGTON, Oct. 6, 2025 – New York is investing another $15.5 million through its ConnectALL initiative to expand broadband and mobile access, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) announced last Monday. The new awards combined infrastructure grants with mobile-service pilots to address persistent coverage and affordability gaps across the state.

ConnectALL, a $1 billion statewide effort, funds open-access networks, broadband in affordable housing, and locally driven solutions to reach underserved areas. The latest round includes projects in Nassau, Otsego, Schenectady, and Warren counties, where pilot programs will test neutral-host towers, community-owned mobile nodes, and citywide Wi-Fi models designed to improve service reliability and affordability.

More than $10 million in new grants will expand fiber networks in rural and low-income communities across Broome and Allegany counties, connecting over 800 homes and affordable-housing units and adding 85 miles of high-capacity backbone infrastructure.

In parallel, ConnectALL has launched New York’s first statewide mobile-coverage testing program, collecting signal data along 20,000 miles of roads and rural corridors to identify gaps and guide future planning.

“Reliable mobile service is vital to New York’s economy and critical to driving innovation, jobs and opportunity statewide,” Hochul said.

Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D) and Chuck Schumer (D) voiced their support of the program in closing the digital divide, with Schumer describing broadband as a “utility as vital as electricity.”