MTC Announces New Broadband Expansion Projects

The Margaretville Telephone Company (MTC) has announced plans to extend broadband services to additional unserved and underserved addresses in the Central Catskill’s region. MTC has identified 220 unserved and 160 underserved addresses located adjacent to existing MTC service areas which remain without access to adequate broadband services.

These addresses were identified using MTC engineering data along with feedback from the Federal and State broadband surveys / mapping initiatives. MTC anticipates extending over 30-miles of new Fiber-to-the-Home facilities to reach these unserved locations in construction phases over the next two years. Proposed expansion locations include portions of County Route 2 (Town of Prattsville), Morton Hill Road area (Town of Colchester), Pucker St. and Tanglewood Rd (Town of Rensselaerville), upper Oliverea Road (Town of Shandaken), and numerous individual addresses throughout the region.

“We cannot overstate the importance of having access to reliable broadband and other advanced telecommunications services available for every resident in our communities” notes MTC General Manager, Glen Faulkner. “Broadband connectivity impacts every aspect of our daily lives, including education, healthcare, entertainment, remote work, and has proven to be a key economic development driver in our communities. It remains a high priority for government and private industry investments to ensure broadband services are available to all residents – including those located in the rural extremities of our communities. Our goal is to continue to support these efforts.”

This investment follows a long history of the company’s broadband expansion initiatives over the past 10+ years which has leveraged over $40M in public / private investments to advance the deployment of advanced telecommunications facilities in the rural Central Catskills Region.

This announcement follows on the heels of the Company’s ownership transition to a 100% employee-owned utility. The company anticipates leveraging savings realized through the new employee-ownership structure to fund new broadband investments going forward.