WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., announced on Thursday up to $170 million in federal funding to expand broadband access in upstate New York.

The federal funding was allocated through the Federal Communications Commission’s Connect America Fund to expand broadband deployment in underserved rural areas.

“Reliable, fast internet access should not be a luxury, it’s a necessity in the 21st-century economy,” Gillibrand said in a press release. “Lack of affordable broadband service cuts off families and businesses from critical services. These federal funds, combined with additional state funds, will give our rural communities in upstate New York greater access to the resources they need to get online and stay competitive in our digital economy, and I was proud to fight for this investment.”

The funds were made available when Verizon declined to accept the allocation through the last Connect America disbursement. Last May, Gillibrand requested the FCC award the unclaimed funds to New York state.

Gillibrand introduced the Broadband Connections for Rural Opportunities Program Act last year, bipartisan legislation that would help close the broadband gap in rural areas. The bill would expand resources available for building high-speed broadband infrastructure by creating a new program to combine grants and loans to help finance projects serving rural and tribal areas, she said.