Atlantic Tele-Network unit gets $39M for NY broadband

By Rodney H. Brown

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A New York-based unit of Salem’s Atlantic Tele-Network Inc. has won a $39.7 million federal stimulus grant to run fiber-optic broadband cable to communities in rural upstate New York. ION Holdco LLC will use the funds to move forward its ION Upstate New York Rural Broadband Initiative.

The ten new segments of fiber infrastructure will also reach communities in parts of Pennsylvania and Vermont, Atlantic Tele-Network (Nasdaq: ATNI) officials said. ION, which is based in Albany, is working in partnership with the Development Authority of the North Country, which owns and operates 750 miles of fiber optic network in the region and wholesales telecommunications transport services.

ION and the Development Authority will put a combined $9.9 million into the project, according to officials.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce awarded ION the $39.7 million through its it Broadband Technology Opportunities Program, which is funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

According to Atlantic Tele-Network CEO Michael Prior, the ION Upstate New York Rural Broadband Initiative makes broadband more readily available to 250,000 households and 38,000 businesses in the region.

In June, Atlantic Tele-Network announced plans to pay Verizon Wireless $200 million cash to buy wireless spectrum licenses and network assets. The divestiture of properties was required by regulation, in return for Verizon Wireless’ acquisition of Alltel. The wireless properties pertain mainly to 80,000 subscribers in rural parts of Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Illinois, Ohio and Idaho.

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