County Teams Up With Multiple Communities to Submit Google Application

A Successful Bid Would Place Ulster County at the Top of the High-Tech Business Development List

Ulster County Executive Michael Hein has submitted an application for the Google Fiber for Communities Program. Google is offering to build out an ultra-high-speed (1 gigabit/second) fiber network for one or more communities across the country. Such a network would offer speeds at 100 times faster than the average broadband connections currently available. It would provide a tremendous and unique competitive advantage, in terms of attracting and creating new businesses, to any community that was able to build and offer it. Applications were due today.

“High speed broadband access has been a priority of my administration since day one,” said County Executive Michael Hein. “High-speed conductivity is essential infrastructure for business activity. As a county that has a rapidly growing high-tech renewable energy manufacturing sector as well as the best city for artists and the coolest small towns in America, we are poised to take full advantage of a network like the one offered by Google Broadband is the backbone of the modern digital economy.”

The Google program sought communities of at least 50,000 as applicants. The County Executive made application for some of the most populated area by combining Kingston, Town of Ulster and Saugerties into a regional application. The Ulster County application was matched by applications from community groups including Kingston Digital Corridor, Tech City, The Solar Energy Consortium and What’s the Big Idea.com

“This application by Ulster County represents a unified effort to bring a needed service to our local economy. Broadband is the backbone of the modern digital economy. Significant applications from community groups indicate the level of widespread support for this project,” said Fred Wadnola, Chairman of the Ulster County Legislature.

“Not only would residents of the Kingston area benefit, but with many new developments both residential and industrial, Ulster County would be able to make full use of this extraordinary network capability,” noted County Executive Hein. “Re-development activities at Tech City have resulted in hundreds of job announcements in the renewable energy manufacturing sector. In addition, shovel ready efforts on Kings Highway and Winston Farm anticipate hundreds of thousands of additional square footage of industrial/commercial space. Finally, residential redevelopment will add to local population. The Kingston-Ulster area is anticipating seventeen hundred new housing units in a single riverfront housing development project alone.” Ulster County has also vigorously pursued funding for wireless broadband funding in areas of the County un-served by any service and recognizes that broadband is required for business of today.