Assemblyman Santabarbara served on the Upstate Cellular Task Force alongside industry experts, community leaders, environmental organizations, government officials, and key stakeholders to study the issues and for the development of implementable recommendations to enhance cellular coverage in our rural upstate areas that suffer from inadequate coverage:

“Although we hoped to receive the Task Force’s report earlier than 2021, I’m happy to finally have these recommendations at hand. The lack of reliable cell coverage is a significant obstacle to the rural communities I represent, affecting communications with loved ones, public safety, economic opportunities and our ability to look towards the future. A key finding in this report estimates that nearly 2,000 miles of major roadways here in upstate New York do not have cellular coverage. It’s unconscionable to have so many New Yorkers living without adequate cell coverage, and it’s especially concerning to know that reaching out to first responders during an emergency in these areas is impossible.

“Now that we have a new governor leading the state and a list of recommendations from the Task Force, I’m hopeful that we can quickly move forward with addressing this important issue. To help our upstate communities prosper, our state government must commit to implementing these new policies and providing the funding needed to ensure cellular coverage for the entire state.”

Full report can be found here: https://esd.ny.gov/esd-media-center/reports?tid[]=516