Dryden Fiber expands to the town of Caroline

Dryden Fiber continues to grow in big ways. Now, the service will become available to another municipality.

Residents and officials from the towns of Caroline and Dryden broke ground on Oct. 27 as Dryden Fiber’s state-funded expansion prepares to arrive in Caroline.

According to a release, Caroline will have a single-room facility that gives the town a point-of-presence (POP). The service in the town will soon be accessible to 1,500 households, joining the 6,500 households in Dryden that have service from the internet provider.

David Makar, Dryden Fiber’s executive director, stated that the ongoing construction will bring more than 140 miles of new fiber-optic cable to the area. The anticipated completion date is Dec. 31, 2026.

“This is a major milestone in a transformational infrastructure project,” Makar said. “Over 500 families in Caroline and Dryden are limited to dial-up or DSL internet speeds for wired internet. They have been left behind by the market, and Dryden Fiber is working to deliver on our commitment to provide high-speed fiber-optic broadband to 100% of the households in both towns. These are families who are excluded from the modern economy, education and health care.”

According to a description, Dryden Fiber’s management and staffing structure is “a combination of town employees and subcontractors. Administrative, financial and decision-making tasks are handled by the broadband committee, the Dryden town board and town staff. Construction and operation of the physical network is handled by subcontractors who meet with and report back to the executive director, administrative staff and broadband committee.”

Dryden Fiber’s inception was in May 2022. The service provider brought in customers by November 2022.

“Since then, they’ve expanded, installing over 50 miles of fiber, and expanding the service to reach over 1,800 households or 31% of the residents of the town of Dryden,” the release noted. “Today, Dryden Fiber has nearly 500 paying customers and over 600 have already signed up and are on the waitlist.”

The expansion to Caroline was covered by a $11.6 million New York State ConnectAll Office grant, which derived from American Rescue Plan Act funding in 2021.

“The grant to Caroline and Dryden provides funding to reach 2,711 households, build 143 miles of fiber and helps expand access for over 6,000 residents,” the release noted.

Sen. Chuck Schumer could not attend the groundbreaking ceremony, but he provided a statement on Dryden Fiber’s expansion and funding.

“All New Yorkers should have access to affordable, high-speed internet, ensuring greater access to jobs, healthcare, education, and economic opportunity,” Schumer said. “The expansion of Dryden Fiber into the Town of Caroline will be a major boost for broadband in Tompkins County, and I am thrilled to see the federal dollars I championed in the American Rescue Plan delivered to Upstate New York. The Towns of Dryden and Caroline know reliable, fast internet access is a necessity. I applaud Governor Hochul’s efforts putting these federal dollars to work. I will continue to fight tooth and nail to ensure that the Southern Tier has the necessary broadband infrastructure to stay connected.”

Dryden Town Supervisor Jason Leifer said, “This critical funding provides much needed financial support to reach rural homes left behind by other providers. Dryden Fiber was able to hit the ground running when the grant was announced [in June 2024], and we’ve already expanded to reach hundreds of new homes, with dozens already signed up under this grant funding. We’re excited to partner with the town of Caroline. We are neighbors, and the larger combined customer base provides better long-term stability for both towns’ broadband goals.”

Mark Witmer, Caroline’s town supervisor, expressed his excitement for the expansion.

“Just last week, I spoke to a resident who was told they could get wired service by a for-profit provider and the installation cost was going to be $18,000,” Witmer said. “This was to reach one rural household in the town of Caroline. With this state funded reimbursable grant, we can provide service to the unserved at an affordable rate, like no other service provider.”

Fiber-optic internet, the release stated, is “deployed primarily on either existing utility poles, owned by power and phone companies, or through underground conduit, placed alongside roads in the public right-of-way (ROW).”

“The first stages of construction are in network design, planning, permitting, and pole preparation (also known in the industry as ‘electrical make ready’),” the release continued. “These steps set the stage for attaching a hard wire strand to the poles and then lashing high-speed fiber-optic cable to the strands. The glass fiber offers unlimited speeds, limited only by the computers and switches located in the POPs of the ISP and the homes and businesses of customers.”

“Since switching to Dryden Fiber I have noticed an increase in reliability with no dropouts when compared to my previous service,” said Tony Salerno, a Dryden Fiber customer. “I work from home in an IT field. I am now able to have a 1 GB symmetrical, very reliable connection and save money. Customer support has been very responsive, something hard to find these days. I really appreciate the easy billing and payment setup and that the price they quote on the website is exactly what the bill is.”