While #Sandy and recovery from Sandy may have taken central focus this month for small businesses in NYC, I wanted to remind Maker businesses of the current challenge being offered by Mayor Bloomberg and the NYCEDC for small and medium-sized businesses to make a case for getting free fiber build-out for high-speed broadband in the ConnectNYC Fiber Challenge:
Small and medium-sized commercial and industrial businesses across the five boroughs are invited to compete for free fiber wiring.
Contestants demonstrating the highest potential impact of fiber connectivity – on their own business, nearby businesses, and underserved areas – will become finalists. Finalists will have a chance to win a free build-out of fiber internet connectivity to their place of business, an overall value of up to $7M for all winning businesses.
To enter, all contestants must obtain a signed landlord agreement providing ISPs with access to the building if they win. If selected a winner, contestants will be required to sign a one-year service contract with a participating ISP at negotiated market rates before they are eligible to receive a free fiber build-out.
This is a particularly useful challenge for displaced and now permanently resettled businesses to take this opportunity to get an internet infrastructure leg-up for themselves and their neighbors by taking the extra effort to get an application in on time. And take a moment to look over the resources here, including the Industrial Business Zones map for areas that are offered a special track in the challenge.