Stimulus to help Potsdam firm expand service

POTSDAM — Slic Network Solutions has been awarded $5.3 million in federal stimulus funding to expand its service into remote areas of Franklin County.

The Potsdam telecommunications company also will add television to its lineup of high-speed Internet and long-distance telephone service, thanks to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding.

"This is very exciting. This is huge for Slic," said General Manager Phillip J. Wagschal.

Slic will construct 136 miles of fiber-optic cable to deliver broadband service leading across county lines toward Malone, and will serve rural communities south of Route 11B, including Dickinson Center, Brandon and Skerry.

The expansion will serve 726 households, 29 businesses and 10 institutions that currently do not have broadband Internet access, Mr. Wagschal said.

"This extends our network to the east, which is really good for us," he said. "Only 10 percent of people in that area have access to any current providers — Verizon or Time Warner Cable."

A subsidiary of Nicholville Telephone Co., Slic will receive a $4.3 million grant toward the project, and the remaining $1.1 million in stimulus funding will come in the form of a loan.

Slic also will use the funding to purchase Metaswitch equipment, which provides the Voice over Internet Protocol connection to bring phone service to the new coverage area. It also will add cable "head-end" equipment, which will allow the company to provide television service as well.

The company will then be able to offer "triple play" packages with Internet, telephone and television services to subscribers throughout its coverage area, Mr. Wagschal said.

"One of the criteria for the grant was that the project be sustainable. One of the things that really makes it sustainable is the ability to offer not just broadband but also telephone and video service," he said. "It'll be terrific."

Slic has fiber-optic networks in the Potsdam, Canton and Massena business districts and is building a connection in the Ogdensburg Industrial Park as well.

The company estimates it will be able to create or retain 10 jobs as a result of the project.

"While we still don't have all of the details of how and when the monies will be distributed, the bottom line is that 2010 will be a very exciting year for us," Mr. Wagschal said in a statement. "We'll not only be able to provide services to individuals and businesses that currently have no other options, we will also begin to offer video services to our existing customers late in the year."