October 2025 News
October 2025
We’re incredibly excited to share construction of the network has restarted and up to 900 new parcels will be in the Dryden Fiber green zone in the next four months. Our aim is to complete the remaining 3,300 Dryden parcels by the spring of 2027.
Project Details and How We Construct Fiberoptic Broadband Internet
On September 18, the Dryden Town Board, on behalf of Dryden Fiber, awarded a construction bid to Syracuse Utilities of Brewerton, New York to build out over 25 miles of Dryden Fiber infrastructure in the greater Freeville region of the Town of Dryden. This construction project reaches over 900 addresses branching west, northwest, north, and northeast from the village of Freeville and the expected completion date is 60 business days (about three months). Work begins immediately.
While this construction is happening (putting strand and fiber on hundreds of utility poles and boring underground 1.5 inch conduit passageways), our engineering partners at Vantage Point Solutions are designing the next phase of Dryden construction. This will go out to bid and be awarded before Thanksgiving 2025. Work on both the northern half of Dryden and the southern half will happen concurrently.
For the next 16 months, you can expect to see vehicles from Vantage Point and Syracuse Utilities throughout Dryden as they design and build New York State’s first and best municipally owned and operated internet service provider. Our goal continues to be to reach 100% of the homes in the town of Dryden.
Concurrent to design, construction, and the bid process is “Electrical Make Ready” or “Make Ready”. This is an industry term for getting the utility poles prepared for additional lines (owned by NYSEG, Frontier, Verizon, or other co-owners like Spectrum or Empire Access). To add our fiberoptic cable to these poles, qualified electric linemen need to make room on the poles for our equipment. Sometimes, for older poles, this includes replacement of utility poles and sometimes it is only adjusting existing wires (“equipment”) up or down to give proper spacing. Before Dryden can attach to poles, they have to be “made ready”.
Dryden Fiber has awarded Electrical Make Ready work to two regional vendors in conjunction with NYSEG. The projects are bid out in groups of utility poles no greater than 150 poles. The winning bidder activates their team and gets poles ready for us. There are at least 40 of these bid projects moving through the process for Dryden Fiber, as we plan to touch over 5,000 poles to bring fiber to every home in town, including those unserved (dial-up only) and underserved (DSL only).
The two companies doing Electrical Make Ready for Dryden Fiber are H.Richardson & Sons (HRS) of Geneva, NY; and Danella, based in Pennsylvania, with local offices in Bath and Syracuse, NY. They will be working on “Make Ready” throughout the fall, winter, and spring, as preparation is needed on poles before fiber can be installed.
Finally, our long-time partners at Clarity Connect will be handling two jobs for Dryden Fiber in the days, weeks, months, and years ahead. In the short term, Clarity will be conducting a network audit of our various hardware and fiber in the field. This is a much-needed step to build the next phase of Dryden Fiber. In the medium and long term, Clarity will be helping Dryden with home and business installations. They also serve as our in-person support in the field when house calls are needed by current customers.
You will see many of the vehicles from Vantage Point, Syracuse Utilities, HRS, Danella, and Clarity Connect throughout town over the next year or two. When you see these vehicles, they are more than likely working to prepare, design, construct, build, or install Dryden Fiber.
Drive Slow in Construction Zones
You may also see an increased number of traffic control personnel on the streets, roads, and state highways with SLOW and STOP signs. These flaggers are there for the safety of the construction crews, who are sometimes high above the street in bucket trucks, and sometimes near the shoulder of the road drilling underground pathways. Please be cautious and courteous to these important members of the extended Dryden Fiber team. Major construction will last the next 18 to 24 months. After construction, we believe the technology infrastructure we are building will operate without large changes for the next 30 to 40 years. We’re asking everyone to drive a bit slower for a few days in your neighborhood for an investment that will last for many decades.
Groundbreaking in Caroline
In June of 2024, the town of Dryden partnered with the town of Caroline on a $9.9M state funded expansion of Dryden Fiber throughout Dryden and Caroline. Later this month, we will be hosting a groundbreaking ceremony in Caroline and YOU are invited!
Date: Monday, October 27, 2025
Time: 12:30pm – 2:00pm
Location: Caroline Town Hall
2670 Slaterville Road, Slaterville Springs, NY 14881
Questions or Interested in Service?
Do you have a question about Dryden Fiber? Please email me at execdir@drydenfiber.com. Do you live in the green zone and would like service? You can request service today and have the installation completed in around a week!
Thank you!
David Makar
Executive Director
Dryden Fiber is a Municipal Internet Service Provider operated by the Town of Dryden, New York. The mission of Dryden Fiber is to provide reliable, affordable, high-speed, fiber-based internet access for residents and businesses. Dryden Fiber offers state-of-the-art technology and unmatched customer service. Launched in the spring of 2023, Dryden Fiber is now constructing the network across the towns of Dryden and Caroline and is adding new homes, and business customers to the platform every day. Customers have no long-term contract and will find speeds to be 5x to 10x of other providers. For more information, visit www.drydenfiber.com.
This project is funded by the Capital Project Fund (CPF) under New York State’s award from the U.S. Department of the Treasury. The following information pertains to the federal award: Federal Award Identification Number (FAIN): CPFFN0191; Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): QU6JCVSYRNK5; Assistance Listing Number (formerly CFDA Number): 21.029.