$15/mo. for Net now law in N.Y.
Gov. Cuomo Friday signed a first-in-the-nation bill requiring internet service providers to offer $15-a-month broadband service to low-income families throughout the state.
Decrying the digital divide, Cuomo said the COVID-19 pandemic exposed the glaring need to give all New Yorkers access to an equal shot at success online.
“The internet will either be the great equalizer for America or it will divide this society by income, by race and by class,” Cuomo said. “You can get left behind on the internet superhighway at 100 miles per hour.”
Cuomo signed the bill in Buffalo alongside Democratic lawmakers and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, who led the Reimagine Commission that made recommendations for the future of the state after COVID-19.
“Remote learning, remote working, and telemedicine are not going away,” Cuomo said. “[We] will ensure that no New Yorker will have to forego having reliable home internet service and no child’s education will have to suffer due to their economic situation.”
The new Affordable Broadband Act was passed by the state Legislature as part of its annual budget process.
It law requires ISP’s doing business in the state to offer highspeed Internet for a monthly fee of $15, inclusive of equipment like a router.
Customers qualify if they receive public assistance, food stamps or free lunches for their children, among other government programs.
Cuomo also announced that Schmidt’s foundation and another nonprofit would foot the bill entirely for the families of 50,000 New York students who cannot afford even the $15 monthly price tag.
Assemblywoman Crystal People-Stokes (D-Buffalo) said the COVID pandemic showed how difficult is for some families to do things that wealthier New Yorkers take for granted.
“Some folks are sitting in parking lots outside of McDonald’s and Taco Bell just to get access to the WiFi,” the lawmaker said. “So the action that was taken ... is really critical.”