BINGHAMTON, NY (WSKG) — The Rochester-based internet provider Greenlight Networks will expand its service to Broome County. The company acquired the Binghamton-area provider Plexicomm in March.
Greenlight Networks announced on Wednesday that it is investing $25 million to bring broadband internet to Binghamton’s West Side.
Implementing broadband infrastructure is capital intensive and will take the company a few months to fully install and upgrade utility boxes, the company’s CEO, Mark Murphy, said.
Residents enrolled with Plexicomm in Broome and Tioga Counties will receive service from Greenlight once equipment upgrades are complete, he added.
Greenlight is enrolled with the federal Emergency Broadband Benefit, which allows households with lower incomes or those receiving certain federal assistance, like SNAP or Medicaid, to get free internet at the same speeds the company already offers.
“Folks that need help, need financial assistance,” Murphy said. “The same product that their neighbors are getting, they’re getting the same service but with the federal subsidy and they’re not going to pay anything.”
Stacey Duncan, Executive Director of Broome County’s Industrial Development Agency (IDA), also known as The Agency, said broadband is a necessary utility, similar to electricity and gas.
“We know this will be a benefit to the school district, for the city, but, as well, a small business location,” Duncan said. “I think this will be a magnet for small businesses to locate within the city of Binghamton because I think there’s going to be more choice for them.”
Greenlight offers speeds of up to 500 megabytes per second at $50 per month, which is five times faster than what Spectrum offers at the same price.
Murphy said the company, which also provides internet in Rochester and Buffalo, will employ approximately 25 people to serve customers in the Southern Tier.