Newfield seeks to expand broadband coverage

Point Broadband is in the process of deploying high-speed internet to Newfield in order to improve the town’s broadband access.

A survey conducted in April 2020 asking residents about where they lived and how reliable their connection was found that much of the town lacked reliable internet access. Some of the residents relied on over-the-air hot spots, which are roughly equivalent to cell phone hotspots in that they are slow and greatly influenced by the weather.

Michael Allinger, supervisor for the town of Newfield, said the pandemic, which forced many people to work or attend school from home, demonstrated how important it is to improve Newfield’s internet access.

“It was back in the beginning of this whole COVID pandemic when we realized that people were working from home [and] kids were taking their classes at home virtually,” Allinger said. “We recognized, at that time, that there was a real deficit in people who could adequately access any sort of high-speed internet.”

Allinger said that after the survey was completed, Newfield hired a subcontractor to survey each town road and find out which spots are not receiving service from the town’s internet providers. The survey found that these areas are mostly in northern Newfield, as well as a few in the southeastern part of town.

Newfield is paying $5,000 for the project, and Tompkins County is paying $70,000, which, combined, comprise a third of the overall cost. Point Broadband is paying the remaining $150,000.

“The only way we were able to do this is through the generosity of Tompkins County and also through working closely with Point Broadband,” Allinger said.

While Point Broadband has taken on most of the cost, Allinger said that it is in their best interest to expand internet access for the underserved locations.

“They knew the customer base was there,” he said. “They were confident that they had a good product and that they were going to get more customers if they extended the service to the Millard Hill corridor.”

The town originally planned to hold two information sessions to answer residents’ questions and allow them to sign up, on Feb. 3 and 10, but the first one was canceled due to a snow storm. Point Broadband’s Chuck Bartosch said the Feb. 10 session went well, with about 25 to 30 people in attendance.

At this point, Bartosch said that between 40 and 50 people have signed up for high-speed internet, although he is unsure of how many did so at the session.

“I think it’s very helpful in general,” Bartosch said. “And it’s worth spending the time meeting with people like that.”

Allinger said one thing he hopes people will understand is that there is a one-time cost to connect to people’s houses, which varies depending on how far the house is from the road.

“It’s no different, when you look at it, from connecting to a public water system or a public sewer system or even, back in the day, when you used to have a telephone connected to your house,” Allinger said. “There was always that initial outlay to have that done, but after that, it’s simply a monthly cost to pay for service.”

Allinger said he hopes that people will sign up so that Point Broadband can connect as many people’s houses as possible at the same time, which is the most efficient way. The work connecting the houses has already begun and is proceeding street by street.

“Number one, there is a cost to running the service from the road to your house,” Allinger said. “But number two, it’s going to be cheaper now to have this done than if you were to decide later on to have it done.”

The project will be unable to reach about 12 households adjacent to Route 13 since obtaining digging permits near the highway is a complex process. Despite this, Allinger said that getting them service is not impossible; it will merely take longer than the rest of the people who are being helped by this project.

Allinger said that improving Newfield’s internet access has been one of his highest priorities since the start of the pandemic.

“Bottom line was that we had to improve the infrastructure out here so that we would be able to service that many people so that that many people would be able to work from their homes or do their classes online from their homes,” Allinger said.

Bartosch said that the pandemic has demonstrated how important reliable internet connections are for people to be able to do things that are necessary for daily life while minimizing the time they spend in public.

“There’s going to be another pandemic someday,” Bartosch said. “So, these things are pretty critical for people’s ability to live.”

Newfield Notes appear every Wednesday in Tompkins Weekly. Send story ideas to editorial@vizellamedia.com.

In brief:

Newfield school board to meet

The Newfield Central School District’s Board of Education will hold its monthly meeting at 6 p.m. March 3. For more information, including the agenda and the Google Meetings link, visit the district website at newfieldschools.org.

Newfield Town Board to meet

The Newfield Town Board will hold its monthly meeting from 7 to 9 p.m. March 10.

For more information, including the agenda and the Zoom link, visit the town website at newfieldny.org.

Newfield Public Library hosts “A Year in the Life of a Bee Yard”

On Feb. 24, the Newfield Public Library will host “A Year in the Life of a Bee Yard” from 6 to 8 p.m. The event will feature Cathy and Mike Griggs of White Dog Apiary in Newfield, who will talk to attendees about beekeeping and share stories and pictures from three decades of beekeeping in New York, with a Q&A session following the event. Attendees are welcome remotely or in person.

For more information or to register, go to tinyurl.com/yawubuen.