BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Not having the best internet could be costly, according to one Erie County lawmaker.

Erie County Legislator Patrick Burke said a committee he hosts, called the Broadband Committee, researched the costs and benefits to creating what he called a “municipal broadband system throughout Erie County.”DOCUMENT | See the committee’s recent work; a release which outlines its next steps.

The system would increase the speed of the net in the county and nurture social and economic growth in the Buffalo community.

“A municipal broadband network could be our generation’s great infrastructure project, like the Erie Canal or the Hoover Dam,” Burke said.

Burke says a project like that would grow Erie County’s GDP by $450 million.