Local municipal governments, residents and businesses have more of a choice than in years past when it comes to their internet and cable television needs. But with the recent end of the federal Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), some customers may be wondering whether their rates are going to go through the roof.
Last week, the Village of Saugerties renewed a cable franchise agreement with Spectrum Northeast LLC, a 15-year deal to keep customer fees at three percent, an arrangement that brings in revenues for the local government. Lately, those revenues have come up short of estimates: The village plans for an annual windfall of around $50,000, but in 2022-23 that number was $44,948 and it dropped to $40,285 in 2023-24. That may be in part due to competition from two other companies, Planet Networks and Archtop, which village officials say circumvents their exclusive arrangement with fiber optic streaming that allows for many of the same offerings through a non-traditional service.
All three companies answered the same questions from Hudson Valley One about how they operate in the Hudson Valley.
Spectrum
Spectrum is the trade name of Charter Communications, a telecommunications company with more than 32 million subscribers in 41 states, including New York. Charter is both the largest cable operator and largest pay television company in the United States, and based on the number of residential lines, the fifth-largest telephone provided. In May 2016, Charter acquired Time Warner Cable and has since been locally operating that service as Spectrum.
Charter’s infrastructure and deep pockets allows them to extend their reach while upgrading their services.
“Charter offers a variety of affordable high-speed internet packages to meet its customers connectivity and budget needs, and our nationwide pricing means the same competitive residential retail rates and speed tiers are available and affordable throughout its entire 41-state service area, regardless of whether a customer lives in an urban, suburban, or rural community,” said Heidi Vandenbrouck, director of field communications for Charter. “We’re investing nearly $6 billion to upgrade our entire network to deliver symmetrical and multi-gigabit speeds to homes and businesses. This 100 percent Charter-funded investment limits new construction by leveraging existing infrastructure making it cost effective, less disruptive to our customers and more environmentally friendly. Symmetrical and multi-gigabit speeds are expected to be available across our entire service area in 2026.”
Spectrum offers customers no modem fees, no annual contracts and no data caps, with “350+ channels on our all-digital network, including diverse, multicultural programming, such as that featured on Spectrum’s Mi Plan Latino, and inclusive features like Spectrum Guide Narration for customers with visual disabilities.”
Charter met the end of the federal ACP initiative in a variety of ways, including a mobile offering.
“Charter has helped millions of families in financial need get and stay connected to reliable, high-speed in-home internet service, including through our significant participation in ACP,” said Vandenbrouck. “As the ACP program winds down, Charter has offers in place to offset the loss of the ACP benefit and save our customers money. Spectrum customers enrolled in ACP will receive a partial credit of $15 ($35 on Tribal lands) on their May bill statements. Charter is offering ACP customers a free Spectrum Unlimited Mobile line — valued at $29.99/month — for one year. In reality, the impact on consumer budgets will be even bigger since customers can save hundreds — if not thousands — of dollars a year by switching to Spectrum Mobile (when compared to the average line cost from other mobile providers) — and that’s before the other mobile providers add taxes and fees. Spectrum Mobile plans have no contracts, additional taxes or fees.”
Planet Networks
Like Charter, Planet Networks has been around for three decades, but operating in a more modest area: The Hudson Valley, Northern New Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania. The Newton, New Jersey-based company’s connections in the Hudson Valley are exemplified by their membership in the Saugerties Chamber of Commerce.
“We are known for our great pricing, our fast fiber speed and our reliable service to customers, and it’s those three pillars that allow us to stand out among our competition,” said Robert Boyle, founder of Planet Networks. “We are so focused on customer satisfaction because fast and reliable internet service is essential for work and school as well as everything we do in our daily lives.”
Boyle said community engagement is a crucial piece of the Planet Networks puzzle.
“We are active members of the communities we serve, and they are important to us,” Boyle said. “Planet Networks works closely with first responders to provide free service to local volunteer firehouses and ambulance squads. Planet Networks also partners with not-for-profits and community groups to make sure connectivity is available, affordable and reliable.”
When the ACP expired, Planet Networks pledged to continue internet service to impacted customers at the same rate until January 2025.
“When the federal government stopped the Affordable Connectivity Program because of budget constraints, we knew that we had to step in,” said Boyle. “Congress’ decision had a significant impact on some of our most vulnerable customers, so we are now continuing that program at our expense through the end of this year.”
Additionally, Boyle talked about their continued expansion in the Hudson Valley and how they’re able to make it work.
“We work with all types of customers, and really focus on serving them street by street and neighborhood by neighborhood,” he said. “Our construction uses existing utility poles which is the least intrusive method for us to deliver the best service available. In Ulster, residents and business owners will see us expanding across the county from Saugerties and Kingston to smaller, underserved communities as well.”
Archtop Fiber
Kingston-based Archtop Fiber is a relative newcomer to the area, announcing their arrival around two years ago. They’ve opened service in communities like Kingston and Saugerties and continue to expand their reach.
“Archtop Fiber was founded with a commitment to bring the fastest, most reliable, environmentally friendly and affordable Internet access to those who have traditionally been underserved — or even overlooked,” said Archtop in their company reply. “With decades of success partnering with communities, the Archtop team is creating technology-driven opportunities across multiple markets throughout New York’s Hudson Valley.”
Archtop said they’re positioned to connect both populous and rural areas.
“Our private capital will enable us to build where there is density, but our public-private partnerships with local municipalities will allow us to extend our reach with public funding to more remote locations,” said Archtop. “We have secured memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with 18 underserved Hudson Valley markets to deliver access to fast, reliable, 100 percent-fiber internet solutions and there are more on the way. These MOUs not only underscore a commitment to bring private and public funding together to expand access to Archtop’s new fiber network but signify the trust the communities have in Archtop Fiber as a partner. We have completed 14 MOUs with communities in Ulster County, with several others signed or in progress across Dutchess, Sullivan counties and others.”
But even as they extend their reach, Archtop want it to be known that they are a local company.
“While our rollout plan includes several counties, Ulster County is one of our first service locations and it’s also where we work and where our team members call home,” said Archtop. “Our headquarters is located in Kingston. In March 2024, we turned on our blazing-fast internet for residential and business customers in the Kingston area, where our service far surpasses local competitors with speeds up to 10 Gig. In April 2024, we turned on service in the town and village of Saugerties, where we have a strategic partnership in place as the own/village’s official tech partner, helping to meet the growing demand for a world-class broadband network.”
Archtop has framed themselves not only as a plucky upstart, but an effective one.
“As we roll out service to underserved communities, like Kingston and Saugerties, residents and businesses are excited to have another internet option beyond the big guys,” said Archtop. “Long gone are the days of frequent outages or spotty connections. With Archtop in the mix, we are able to bring incredible opportunities to those who haven’t had reliable access to fast, affordable Internet.”
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