by Bea Peterson
There were several topics discussed at the most recent Hoosick Rising meeting held at the Community Alliance Church on January 8. They included the need for more volunteers to keep the Hoosick Rising momentum going, the desire to involve more entrepreneurs, recent community successes and updated information on HAYC3 and CiviCure and CiviCure’s plans for the Wood Block. [private]In the mode of “getting things done,” Tom Vallone had researched bringing faster and improved internet service to Hoosick. He introduced Jason Guzzo of Hudson Valley Wireless who showed an impressive power point presentation on services that could become available in this area. Among those that accompanied him to the meeting was Ann Mueller, Congressman Chris Gibson’s Constituent Service Director.
Guzzo said his company has partnered with state and local governments to expand its fifth generation broadband platform (NITRO Broadband) to Washington, Rensselaer, Albany, Saratoga and Warren Counties. “NITRO Broadband utilizes fixed wireless technology focusing on rural communities and highly distressed urban areas,” he said.
Governor Cuomo has set aside $25 million in funding for broadband internet expansion through the state’s Connect NY program. The program is expected to bring high-speed internet to more than 50,000 home and businesses in the state. Two million dollars of that funding was granted to Hudson Valley Wireless to provide these services in Washington and Rensselaer Counties. The company will use its wireless technology that depends on a network of radio towers tied into a fiber connection located at its data center in Niskayuna. “We already have towers in Grafton and in Cambridge,” said Guzzo.
NITRO Boardband is designed to deliver reliable high speed internet service to homes and businesses by using a combination of high capacity microwave and fiber-optic links. The platform is designed with best of breed manufacturers to deliver high bandwidth with low latency with speeds up to 10 times faster than DSL and up to 25 times faster than satellite and other wireless solutions. Once NITRO Broadband is available to an area it will offer a variety of packages to cater to every need. Guzzo said, “it delivers blazing fast connection speeds allowing users to download music, movies, online gaming, social networking, VoIP, and more.”
Since NITRO Broadband is not yet available in this area Guzzo and Mueller suggested individuals go to the NYS Broadband Website – http://nysbroadband.ny.gov/Your-Internet-Access and complete the survey. Everyone completing the survey is then placed on the “demand aggregation map.” Obviously, the more people from the Hoosick area that do not have quality internet coverage that fill out the survey, the more likely it is better service will come here.[/private]