(TNS) — The city has partnered with Verizon to make fiber-optic, high-speed internet access available throughout the city, Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti announced Wednesday. She credited the Biden administration and Congress for investing in and expanding broadband high-speed internet projects. Access to reliable and affordable high-speed internet is as essential as any other utility, officials said.
The partnership means Verizon’s fiber-optic, 1 gigabit (GB) high speed internet access will be running through and available in every neighborhood, improving internet speeds for remote work, remote schooling, telemedicine, downloading, uploading, voice and video communications, live streaming, webcasts and interactive games. Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti, at left, and Eric Reed, Verizon’s senior director of public policy and government affairs, speak Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024 at Nay Aug Park in Scranton, where the mayor announced and recognized a new partnership between the city and Verizon for a fiber optic broadband project for ubiquitous high-speed internet throughout the city.
“Broadband, as we know, is not a luxury. It is a utility. It is a necessity,” Cognetti said during a media event at Nay Aug Park to announce and recognize the partnership with Verizon.
“We are able to now make sure that broadband reaches, not just broadly in Scranton, but every single home.” The partnership stems from the city seeking proposals a year ago for a “broadband infrast.
