NYS broadband initiative | Viasat Internet Community

I've just found the phase 3 awards for NYS broadband initiative and, if I read the census block ID correctly, it looks like our block is awarded to Hughes. (Which is pissy because less than a mile down the road, a local cable company is installing fiber)The minimum requirements of the grant on the rfp are 25 mbps, 150 GB or better cap, 49. installation and 60. per month. Which is almost half what we are paying now. Plus we purchased lifetime lease. But...I have not read good things re Hughes. And..the silver plans, from what I can tell, seem to have lower priority data allowances. I have not seen the Hughes nys broadband plans yet but end of year is the stated roll out for all programs. Just how bad is Hughes and are the lower data allowances for viasat unlimited plans the wave of the future?

Wayne Sharaf

18 Posts
3 Reply Likes

Posted 5 months ago

5 months ago

Stephen Rice, Champion

2070 Posts
1015 Reply Likes

You can expect even more congestion if the government is subsidizing the cost.

(Edited)

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5 months ago

Jim16

2043 Posts
1753 Reply Likes

But the Government does everything better and cheaper...

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5 months ago

Stephen Rice, Champion

2070 Posts
1015 Reply Likes

Why pay $80 for Viasat's cheapest plan when you can get "unlimited" on Hughesnet for $20 less a month thanks to a subsidy? More people flock to Hughesnet to save a dollar, and congestion follows.

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1 person likes this

5 months ago

GabeU, Champion

719 Posts
406 Reply Likes

Wayne,

I'm in the same boat. The hope that the NY Broadband Initiative gave to many of us turned out to be a lie. I don't know that it was planned to be in the beginning, but the end result is such. I'm in the Hughes census block, too, though I already have it, so nothing will change for me, save for possible price and data allotment. So, still not much streaming (I don't, currently). :(

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