POTSDAM – Gov. Andrew Cuomo came here Wednesday to announce a program to expand high-speed internet access to 134,000 homes and businesses in the North Country.

The New NY Broadband Initiative will funnel $6.2 million in state grants to regional internet service providers, serving about 30,000 previously unconnected homes and businesses in its first round. In a press release, the governor said requests for proposals have been sent for a second round, with a goal to connect all New York residents with broadband internet by 2018.

The initiative’s goal is to provide a minimum internet speed of 100 megabits per second to the majority of state residents. These speeds, the release states, will allow users to “download HD movies in 11 minutes – versus 2.3 hours without broadband – and credit card transactions will be processed five times faster.”

The governor also announced that Charter has a four-year plan to expand broadband services to 145,000 unconnected households as the cable company prepares to merge with Time Warner Cable. Charter also plans to provide high internet speeds to more than 2 million New York homes and businesses in early 2017. According to the release, 97 percent of state residents will have broadband access following these initiatives.

“Access to high-speed internet is critical to keeping pace with the rising demands of the modern economy,” the governor said in the release. “The New NY Broadband Program is advancing our vision for inclusive, interconnected communities that empower individuals, support small businesses and advance innovation.”

Bidders for the first round were selected by the lowest amount of funding required per household. Guidelines for round two requests are available on the New York State Broadband Program Office’s website.

Citizens Telephone Company of Hammond, N.Y., Inc. won the bulk of the first round’s funding at $3,316,810. Other allocations include awards of $129,634 and $1,702,246 to Frontier Communications and a $1,084,000 award to TDS Telecom.