To the Editor:

I am writing in response to the recent misleading letter to the editor in The Altamont Enterprise headline “Broadband Committee wants to know why Knox was excluded.” I would like to set the record straight and dispel the misinformation related to the circumstances surrounding Knox’s omission from the county’s most recent broadband announcement.

Knox, along with the town of Guilderland, was originally included in the county’s community-partnership broadband plan. However, Empire State Development (ESD) made an independent determination to transfer these areas into the federal Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program instead. These municipalities were consequently removed from the county’s application by ESD.

This collaboration between Governor Kathy Hochul, Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, and Congressman Paul Tonko allows us to maximize federal, state and local funding to make the largest impact for all county residents. Any insinuation that the people of Knox or any residents of any municipality within Albany County would be excluded from this endeavor by my administration and our partners is a false narrative.

Since BEAD is a federal program administered by State ESD, it is not within the county’s authority to announce awards or identify specific coverage locations. While the governor’s office and ESD did announce BEAD awards in late September, including several hundred within Albany County, we are not permitted to disclose the specific addresses involved.

To further clarify the recent letter to the editor, my office has been in regular communication with the Knox Broadband Committee, updating the committee with public information that we are free to share. In fact, we have had numerous conversations with the committee and it has been fully briefed on the current situation.

Any implication to the contrary is disingenuous and does not serve the public good. We strongly encourage the committee to engage directly with ESD’s ConnectALL Office for the most accurate and up-to-date information regarding BEAD covered addresses within the town of Knox.

We would like to thank the governor’s office, Empire State Development, and all of the municipalities in Albany County for their continued partnership in this momentous endeavor. Reliable high-speed internet is no longer a luxury; it is vital infrastructure and it continues to be a top priority of my administration until we have coverage to all homes in Albany County. 

Daniel P. McCoy

Albany County Executive

Editor’s note: The Nov. 13 letter from the Knox Broadband Committee was linked to and ran in the same edition as a story, “Unserved northern Albany County has to wait for feds to fund broadband,” that included the county’s view on the lack of broadband in Knox.