ALBANY — Verizon this month reached a deal with state regulators to expand its high-speed internet services in New York and repair its existing telephone infrastructure.
The agreement announced Thursday with the state Public Service Commission means Verizon expects to make its high-speed broadband network available to an additional 47,000 households across the state starting this year.
“The joint proposal strikes the appropriate balance for consumers, Verizon and its employees,” Commission chairman John Rhodes said in a statement.
“The joint proposal builds upon and expands important customer protections previously approved by the Commission and it requires Verizon to expand its fiber network and invest in its copper network, both of which will result service improvements.”
The deal requires Verizon to expand fiber and hybrid fiber-copper networks to parts of upstate, the Hudson Valley and Long Island.
Verizon will also upgrade its existing copper system in New York City and remove 64,000 double telephone poles deemed excessive throughout the state over a four-year period.
"We are pleased that the commission recognized that the settlement strikes an appropriate balance, and we look forward to fully implementing its provisions," Verizon said in a statement.
Verizon is the largest carrier in New York with more than 2 million voice-only lines operated from 539 offices, state records showed.
State regulators have been pushing Verizon, Charter and other cable and internet providers to more quickly add reliable high-speed internet services in New York, particularly in rural and poor areas with limited access.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo and regulators have been threatening Charter with lawsuits and fines, as well as considering revoking its license for Spectrum cable if it doesn't build out its network more quickly.
The deal with Verizon will "result in the availability of higher quality, more reliable landline telephone service to currently underserved communities and will increase Verizon's competitive presence in several economically important telecommunications markets in New York," the Public Service Commission said.
The deal doesn't impact Verizon's Fios TV network, which the company has not sought to expand in the state.
Verizon and the state have been negotiating an agreement on the company's services for more than two years.
In 2015, Cuomo made $500 million available to entice companies to expand its broadband in New York, saying at the time that 30 percent of New Yorkers lacked high-speed access.
Earlier this year, Verizon received a $71 million grant to extend its high-speed coverage to 15,500 addresses in the Capital Region, central New York, the North Country and Southern Tier. Verizon is chipping in $36 million.
The latest announcement adds another 32,000 addresses to Verizon's plans, including parts of the Hudson Valley, Long Island and upstate. That cost will be borne by Verizon.
Verizon nor the state commission had more specifics on where the expansion will occur.
But in its first year of the expansion, Verizon expects to make fiber-based services available to as many as 12,000 residences and businesses: 7,000 on Long Island and 4,000 in the Hudson Valley and upstate, the agreement states.