Hundreds in Oswego County now eligible for high-speed fiber internet service

FULTON, N.Y. — More than 1,700 homes, businesses, and schools in Fulton and nearby parts of southern Oswego County are now eligible for high-speed fiber internet service for the first time.

State and local officials, along with Kinetic by Windstream, a fiber-broadband provider, announced the initiative Tuesday at the CNY Community Arts Center in Fulton.

The project increases Kinetic’s presence in the area by more than 40 percent, per its announcement. Some 4,100 households in Fulton, Central Square, and Phoenix already have access to Kinetic’s “ultrafast” broadband.

Austin Wheelock, executive director of Operation Oswego County, said he applauded Kinetic for investing to provide high-speed internet fiber for unserved and underserved communities and Oswego County.

Kinetic’s investment helps “close a gap” between residents and businesses with broadband access and those without it, Wheelock noted.

“Closing this gap — this ‘digital divide’ — is helping eliminate barriers to opportunity and ensure that everyone in Oswego County benefits from equal access to the highest-quality broadband access,” Wheelock said.

Kinetic laid nearly 40 miles of optical fiber cable to bring high-speed broadband to the more than 1,700 customers in Fulton, Central Square, Phoenix, Oswego, and West Monroe.

“High speed internet has become such a critical necessity for our everyday lives, yet this connectivity and the infrastructure behind it have remained inaccessible for many, for too long,” Sara Broadwell, executive director of the Greater Oswego–Fulton Chamber of Commerce, said in a news release.

The Oswego County fiber project is part of a $2 billion multiyear capital-investment strategy to “dramatically expand” gigabit internet service across Kinetic’s 18-state footprint.