New York universal broadband access possible with infrastructure funds, providers say

Now telecom leaders hope $65 billion in broadband funding contained within the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill will put the state over the finish line when it comes to both building out rural networks and ensuring lower-income households can afford the service.

"New York is really poised to be the first state in the nation to bridge both divides," said Ana Rua, a government affairs manager at Crown Castle, a communications infrastructure firm. "There's enough money to accomplish both."

An initial portion of $100 million will be allocated to each state to be used for broadband infrastructure grants, with the remaining funds to be distributed based on revised Federal Communications Commission-provided coverage maps once surveying to identify more precise coverage gaps is completed.

That funding will build upon the $670 million in state and federal funding that has already been allocated to build out networks as part of the New NY Broadband Program.

But while 98.7 percent of New Yorkers have access to broadband - a number from the Federal Communications Commission touted by Empire State Development, which oversees the state's broadband deployment - this only means the service is offered at their home.

More than 1 million New Yorkers, or nearly 14 percent of households, lack access or a subscription to home broadband services, according to a recent report by the state Comptroller's Office, a number disproportionately concentrated in poor and elderly households.

Thirty-six percent of households with incomes less than $20,000 lacked the service, according to the report.

The infrastructure bill also contains several funding streams that will subsidize the cost of the service to households so they can afford the service, including $2.75 billion for states that develop "digital equity plans."

The American Rescue Plan Act passed earlier this year also contains billions of dollars in broadband funding that states can tap into.

The pending influx of capital as a result of the infrastructure bill dovetails with a new report outlining a roadmap for universal broadband access endorsed by a coalition of New York state business, telecommunications, government and community leaders.

Statewide recommendations as part of the "Maximizing Connectivity Across New York State: A Statewide Roadmap" include:

• Streamlining coordination and eliminating incongruous policies that make fiber optic deployments cost prohibitive.
• Supporting and facilitating the development of 5G small cell designs that allow multiple carriers to expedite deployment and foster competition.
• Rolling back onerous regulatory requirements - like the use and occupancy fee for state-owned rights-of-way - that disincentivize infrastructure needed to expand connectivity.

The coronavirus pandemic has only cast existing coverage gaps into sharper relief, according to the report.

Telecom providers contend repealing the so-called "broadband tax" is a centerpiece of getting to 100 percent coverage.

To generate additional revenue, the state Department of Transportation began charging providers annual fees on fiber-optic cable in state road rights of way in 2019. But companies argue the fee is a tax that hampers both fiber-optic and 5G deployment in the "last-mile" rural communities that remain unserved.

"That's a cost that makes achieving the goal of achieving 100 percent more difficult," said Bob Puckett, president of the New York State Telecommunications Association.

Those costs can be hefty, Puckett said, citing a western New York-based member of his organization who pays $120,000 annually on a 1-mile line - not including survey costs.

The state Comptroller's Office has not taken a position on the fee, but Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli flagged it as a concern in his recent report.

Providers who signed onto the broadband roadmap are heartened by proposed legislation introduced by State Sen. Michelle Hinchey, D-Saugerties, and state Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner, D-Round Lake, that would eliminate the fees.

"That has single-handedly crippled broadband providers," Rua said.