BUFFALO, N.Y. — Western New York is about to get another high-speed internet option.
Former Buffalo Sabres owner and Paychex founder, Tom Golisano, was in Buffalo Tuesday to announce plans to expand Greenlight Networks’ high-speed fiber service to the Buffalo Niagara region, including Erie County.
A source with knowledge of the project spoke with 2 On Your Side's Nate Benson Monday and said Greenlight Networks reached out after they saw his WGRZ story about why there is only one internet option in Buffalo and said decided to come.
This project has come to fruition within the last two weeks, prior to our story, they had no plans for Buffalo. With this project, Greenlight Networks will be making a $150 million commitment.
A press conference was held Tuesday to announce all of the details and how they plan to build-out high-speed internet in the area. Golisano, who is a controlling equity partner of Greenlight Networks, was joined by local and state officials for the announcement.
Greenlight will install fiber optic broadband in the city and beyond.
The company uses a crowd sourced neighborhood approach meaning that when enough people in a community sign up for the service it will get installed
They’re aiming for approval of the project by the City of Buffalo at the end of January. The first fiber rollout could be late 2020 or early 2021.
We don't know yet exactly where they will be installing this new high-speed internet in Erie County, but two Buffalo Common Council leaders, Buffalo Lovejoy District Council Member Richard A. Fontana and Buffalo University District Council Member Rasheed N.C. Wyatt, are expected to be in attendance at the press conference.
2 On Your Side reached out to Spectrum Internet to find out if this would affect their pricing structure. Spokesperson Lara Pritchard released this statement to us:
"Spectrum Internet is a tremendously competitive choice — available throughout virtually all of the Buffalo Niagara region, already — with plans providing 400 Mbps and gigabit connections available throughout. Our network has the capacity and bandwidth to meet consumer demands, today and into the future."
Buffalo is behind other similar-sized markets in terms of options for high-speed internet. Buffalo still honors an old franchise agreement system that only allowed one cable and internet provider in a municipality.
There has been progress, though. Mayor Byron Brown's administration has submitted to the Common Council a new Telecommunications License Agreement, which, if passed, will serve a template for companies seeking to provide such services for the city in the future.
You can watch the full press conference below:
