Miner: Syracuse joins Next Century Cities coalition for high-speed Internet

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The City of Syracuse has joined Next Century Cities, a city-to-city initiative that says it’s dedicated to ensuring the availability of next-generation broadband Internet for all communities.

The office of Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner announced the city’s involvement in this effort in a news release issued Wednesday, the same day President Barack Obama outlined a “platform of ideas” to help communities across the nation improve broadband access.

Next Century Cities is a project of the Washington, D.C.–based New Venture Fund, a nonprofit public charity, according to the New Century Cities website.

New Venture Fund hosts and incubates a wide range of conservation, education, global health, and other charitable projects, the site says.

Miner says she has made expanding Internet service and “bridging the digital divide” a priority of her administration.

She is working with the Syracuse Community Broadband Initiative and MetroNet to study the feasibility of developing a community-owned and operated Fiber to the Premise (FTTP) network capable of 1 gigabit/second upload speeds.

The Internet is the “electricity” of the 21st century, Miner said in the news release.

“It is important that we have solid digital infrastructure in place so businesses can grow and residents thrive. Our capacity for growth should only be limited by our ideas, not the speed or volume by which we are able to share those ideas. I am pleased that Syracuse has joined the ranks of over 50 communities across the nation understanding the great potential broadband and fiber can bring to an urban center,” Miner said.

Syracuse is the first city in New York state to join the Next Century Cities coalition, which currently has more than 50 cities participating.

“Next Century Cities welcomes Syracuse, the latest community to join us in support of high-speed Internet,” Deb Socia, executive director of Next Century Cities, said in the Miner news release. “We encourage all cities who are interested in recognizing the benefits of these investments to business, schools, government, and more to join this initiative.”

Next Century Cities supports communities and their elected leaders nationwide as they seek to ensure access to “fast, affordable, and reliable” Internet service.

During a speech in Cedar Falls, Iowa, on Wednesday, Obama outlined steps he will take during his State of the Union address to assist Americans in attaining what he termed reliable, affordable, high-speed Internet access.

The announcement includes a call to end laws that harm broadband-service competition; expanding the movement of local and state leaders, including Next Century Cities, working for better broadband; a new project called “BroadbandUSA” to support community initiatives; removing regulatory barriers; and improving investment incentives, according to Miner’s office.