The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Officials discuss broadband accessibility need
MOHAWK VALLEY, N.Y. » The internet has been a saving grace for many during the pandemic, but for those without access to it, the circumstances have highlighted the digital divide and the need for internet expansion.
Several officials across New York state have been advocating for increased internet accessibility for all residents. Particularly, broadband, a category of highspeed internet access as opposed to dial-up, is what officials are fighting for.
During a recent legislative forum hosted by the Chamber Alliance of the Mohawk Valley and The Genesis Group, Oneida County and other elected regional officials stressed the need and their support for broadband access in their areas.
“[An] opportunity here is to reimagine our economy as a result of what we’ve experienced throughout this pandemic. There are new ways that we can work from home and contribute. So maybe we’ll have more people living in Central New York and the Mohawk Valley, but working for a company in NYC,” State Sen. Joseph Griffo, R-47, said.
118th District Assembly member Robert Smullen commented, “I’ve constantly urged the governor over the last several weeks to... sign into law the broadband study bill that passed the senate nearly unanimously and the assembly nearly unanimously, which will allow us to get to the bottom of the broadband conundrum in upstate NY, which is, there are pockets of isolation out there. We know there are people that don’t have broadband.”
The legislation Smullen spoke of, called the Comprehensive Broadband Connectivity Act, made it to the governor’s desk on Dec. 29, 2020 and awaited getting signed into law. However, on Jan. 31, 2020, the bill was pocket vetoed, a form of veto by inaction; the governor had a certain amount of time to sign the bill into law, and he didn’t.
The bill deemed access to broadband a “fundamental right,” one that the bill says the State is responsible for providing to every New Yorker. Among other things, the bill would have required the
Public Service Commission, which regulates state utilities, to study the availability, affordability, and reliability of high-speed internet in all areas of the state.
A report of the commission’s findings would be due in one year.
This research would supplement the pre-existing data from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which some officials say do not accurately portray New Yorkers’ ability to obtain high-speed internet. An FCC report with data from Dec. 2018 found that around 98% of the NYS has access to high-speed internet, which is defined as a connection of least 25 megabits per second.
Rural areas were shown to have slightly less. Madison and Oneida County were reported to have 93% and 96.5% access, respectively.
However, the FCC states in its 2020 written report regarding this data that “this analysis likely overstates the coverage experienced by some consumers,” due to the particular way the data is collected in census blocks. Additionally, the report admitted that access on Tribal lands continues to lag behind other areas.
The Oneida Dispatch has reached out to the governor’s press office for reasoning behind the decision to pocket veto the bill and has yet to hear back.
“The pandemic has brought to light some areas of improvement that we know we’re going to need, and certainly broadband is key to that, and it’s something that’s not just relevant during this pandemic, it’s relevant as we continue to develop pieces of this community that need to move forward,” said Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente at the legislative forum.
He mentioned that the county has been working with the Mohawk Valley Economic Development District and has been looking at a study of broadband inventory in the area.
In 2015, Cuomo established the $500 million New NY Broadband Program, providing state grant-funds to support projects that deliver high-speed internet access to “unserved and underserved” areas of New York State, according to the governor’s website. Collectively, three rounds of funding over the course of three years sought to tighten the digital divide.
The final round of funding was distributed in 2018. The status of these projects that received funding is uncertain; some or all could be finished, some or all could be partially completed. According to the governor’s website, this final round of funding will “close the final gap and bring high-speed broadband to all New Yorkers in every corner of the state.”
Also on the topic of internet accessibility, on Jan. 12, 2021, the governor proposed to enact legislation, as part of the 2021 State of the State agenda, requiring internet service providers to offer an affordable $15 per month high speed internet plan to low-income households.
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