New York Continues to Use Federal Funds for Overbuilding
Key Takeaways
- After canceling a $26M broadband grant in Cortland and Cayuga counties, New York is racing to reallocate those, and additional, federal funds through a new MIP Round 4 before the end-of-year CPF deadline.
- In January, Cortland County issued an RFP seeking a partner to apply for MIP Round 4 funding.
- An ACLP analysis of the Cortland County RFP data found that 93% of Top and Medium Priority locations and 99% of Low Priority locations already have 100/20 Mbps broadband service, consistent with the pattern of overbuilding seen in previous MIP rounds.
- ConnectALL has not provided updates on the status of any MIP projects, and with less than a year until the statutory completion deadline, it remains unclear whether these networks are on track for completion.
This post provides a summary of our Cortland County Broadband Coverage Analysis, which includes a detailed methodology and additional coverage data.
Over the last several years, New York State has used over $210 million in federal Capital Projects Funds (CPF) to engage in massive overbuilding of private broadband infrastructure. In two previous analyses, the ACLP detailed the extent to which the state, via its Municipal Infrastructure Program (MIP), chose to use these resources to subsidize duplicative broadband infrastructure across huge swaths of the state. Specifically, the ACLP found that, of the 85,000+ locations to be passed by the 13 projects awarded MIP grants in rounds 1 and 2, 89% already have access to a broadband connection. The ACLP projected a similar rate of overbuilding for MIP grants allocated after round 2.
The state now appears on track to continue funding overbuilding as it races to meet an end-of-year deadline for completing projects built with CPF funds.
What’s Happening in Cortland
In December 2025, it was reported that ConnectALL, the state office administering the MIP, had canceled a $26M grant that was earmarked for broadband projects in Cortland and Cayuga counties. Apparently, the state did not have confidence that the project would be substantially complete by the end of 2026, the statutory deadline for CPF-funded projects.
On January 12, 2026, ConnectALL announced that “up to $36 million” in additional funding would be available in a new Round 4 of the MIP. Curiously, ConnectALL did not disclose that the funding being allocated in this round stemmed from the canceled Cortland/Cayuga project.
The next day, Cortland County issued an RFP seeking “partners to form a public-private partnership to expand broadband infrastructure countywide through New York State’s ConnectALL Municipal Infrastructure Program (MIP) – Round 4 reopened January 12, 2026.” The selected partner would join the county in formally applying for the funds available in MIP Round 4. (It is unclear if Cayuga County has taken similar steps.)
In its RFP, Cortland County identified “critical points of interest by priority (1-3) as well as unserved locations as provided by the ConnectALL office” that it wished to connect with MIP grant funds.
The ACLP sought to determine the extent to which these locations might already be served with broadband. To do so, we started with the geographic data files provided in the county’s January 2026 broadband RFP. These show the various “Top,” “Medium,” and “Low Priority” parcels (properties) which the project seeks to serve. These parcels were then merged with data from the FCC’s National Broadband Map to determine what proportion of locations (i.e., buildings) on those parcels already have access to 100/20 Mbps or faster terrestrial broadband service. The results of this analysis are summarized in Table 1.
| Tier | BSLs | Served 100/20 | % Served |
|---|---|---|---|
| Top Priority | 27 | 25 | 92.6% |
| Medium Priority | 70 | 65 | 92.9% |
| Low Priority | 86 | 85 | 98.8% |
| BEAD Program Points | 35 | 13 | 37.1% |
Overall, 93% of Top and Medium Priority and 99% of Low Priority locations are already served. These findings are consistent with the significant overbuilding underwritten by ConnectALL with MIP funds. In contrast, only 37% of the “BEAD Program Points” which were included in the RFP data files are already served, a much lower rate of overbuilding. The full results of this analysis, along with a detailed methodology, are available in our full report.
What’s Next
Only one entity – Archtop Fiber – responded to the Cortland RFP. Per that response, Archtop is “in the midst of an aggressive, 3,000-mile fiber-optic construction push to provide broadband across the Hudson Valley, including Sullivan County.” Indeed, Archtop previously secured nearly $30M in MIP funds to “serve over 22,000 homes and businesses with 253 miles of fiber and fixed wireless on twelve towers” in Sullivan County. According to our analysis of that award, Archtop’s project in Sullivan County will overbuild 91% of those locations.
Whichever entity ultimately wins the available Round 4 MIP funding will have less than a year to complete its deployment. More broadly, it remains to be seen whether any of the MIP projects are on track to meet the statutory deadline for substantial completion. ConnectALL has not provided any updates on the status of these networks. Its inability or unwillingness to publicly acknowledge that it terminated the Cortland/Cayuga award does not inspire confidence that it will be forthcoming if additional projects are struggling or appear unable to meet the December 31 deadline.