Light Up Livingston

Light Up Livingston is Livingston County’s initiative in response to the need for high-speed affordable broadband service in the County. The initiative, led by the Livingston County Board of Supervisors Broadband Committee, seeks to provide access to high-speed, fiber-optic internet to every address in the county. This effort is comprised of several phases, internet service providers and grant opportunities where available.

Livingston County is dedicated to improving the high-speed broadband network to enrich the quality of life for residents, ensure that economic development opportunities are available for agriculture and businesses and have a positive impact on education, telemedicine, emergency services, the local economy and home values.


What is Broadband?

Broadband is defined by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) as an Internet connection with at least 100 Mbps download speed and 20 Mbps upload speed. The widely accepted technology to achieve these speeds, and future proof infrastructure, are Fiber Optics. However, CoAx cable and some wireless technologies are capable of achieving these speeds as well.

The FCC also expanded on the definition to include service tiers based on latency. These are Served, Underserved, and Unserved. Subsequently, every address in the nation has been turned into what is known as a Broadband Serviceable Location, or BSL on the most recent FCC BSL Fabric. Each Broadband Serviceable Location (BSL) is categorized in this fashion. This fabric is the driver for the most recent grant allocations from the NTIA.

In order to achieve the goals of the program, a tiered approach has been identified to strategically capitalize on local investment paired with grant funding.


TierService LevelFCC DefinitionCounty Priority
Tier 1
UnservedAll service that is not low-latency or less than 25/3 Mbps, and all Geostationary Satellite, Non-geostationary Satellite, Unlicensed Terrestrial Fixed Wireless, and Other.
Focus on addresses with no internet.
Tier 2UnderservedLow-latency Fiber, Cable, Copper, or Terrestrial Licensed Fixed Wireless offering of speeds less than 100/20 Mbps, but greater than or equal to 25/3 Mbps.
Focus on addresses with speeds below 100/20 Mbps.
Tier 3ServedLow-latency Fiber, Cable, Copper, or Licensed Terrestrial Fixed Wireless offering of speeds greater than or equal to 100/20 Mbps.
Existing internet is below 1 Gbps or choices in internet service provider is limited.