Rural areas in New York State have been awarded $855,901 from the Department of Agriculture for a public-private broadband expansion effort. The project will be overseen by Windstream Corp.

“They will go from poor Internet access to very, very good access . . . In urban areas, we take for granted high-speed Internet access,” said Rep. Brian Higgins. “The grants make it feasible to extend the broadband to rural areas,” Windstream spokesman Scott Morris said. “The idea is to extend it to people and businesses that currently don’t have it.” The project is expected to reach 571 homes, eight businesses and eight community institutions.

Read more about the project here.