Report: 1 million New Yorkers don't have broadband amid COVID-19. Here's where

Sarah Taddeo
New York State Team

More than a million New York households did not have a broadband internet connection, even as the state ranked second in the nation for the share of its population with access to a basic internet connection, according to a report released Tuesday by the state Comptroller’s Office.

While the state has been determined to reach residents with broadband connections for years — especially in rural or urban areas — there is still much work to be done, said Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli at a press conference Tuesday, flanked by several New York lawmakers fighting for better broadband availability, access and affordability in their communities. 

“The time to improve access and availability and reliability is now,” DiNapoli said, touching a variety of issues that intersect with lack of broadband availability or access in a particular area, including working from home and remote learning amid the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“Schools reopened, but remote learning, whether it’s temp or long-term, is a real possibility for the future,” DiNapoli said. “Whether you’re talking about work or school, this is part of the new reality that we’re all going through. So reliable, high-speed internet is a necessity for working adults and certainly for our students as well.” 

The comptroller’s report made a key distinction between broadband “availability” — referring to the geographic areas that are (or are not) wired for a broadband connection — and broadband “access,” meaning the number of residents or businesses that maintain a broadband internet subscription.

A quarter of a million New Yorkers did not have broadband connection available in their neighborhood, while one million New York households, or 13.8% of the state population, did not have a broadband subscription, according to 2019 Census Bureau data.

One out of three of these households were considered “low income,” according to the report. 

More on rural broadband in NY:Students and workers need high-speed internet amid COVID. But these barriers remain

The need for better high speed internet in New York

Fifth grader Jacob Sepulveda, bottom left, works in the glow of his lamp, blocked from the distractions of his siblings Jeremiah, Rihanna and Reina, who work around the dining room table as they continue remote learning at their home in Rochester Thursday, Jan. 14, 2021.

The state's rate was on par with the national average of 13.6% of households lacking broadband subscriptions, often because of cost. 

New York’s broadband availability was greatly improved over the last decade as the state shelled out hundreds of millions in grants to local internet service providers to build in difficult-to-reach areas.

Now, 99% of New York residents have a broadband connection that’s 25 megabits per second or faster available in their area, according to the Federal Communications Commission. 

The FCC’s methodology in measuring broadband access, which utilizes census blocks to determine where broadband service is still lacking, has been criticized for being misleading and easily skewed.

If just one household in a census block has broadband access, for instance,  the FCC counts that block as “covered,” which could leave the rest of the block’s residents to fall through the cracks.

A report by Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli released Sept 14, 2021,  found more than 1 million homes in New York lacked broadband internet access

So DiNapoli's report found the North Country, Southern Tier and Mohawk Valley had the highest percentages of people without broadband available, at 5%, 3.1% and 3.8%, respectively.

In counties like Allegany and Cattaraugus, on the southwestern tip of the state, around 20% of residents did not have broadband availability in their neighborhoods, according to the report.

In terms of lack of access, however, nearly half of all households not having a broadband subscription were located in New York City; 9% are located in Western New York, and 9% in the Hudson Valley. 

As availability becomes more ubiquitous, New York should continue to focus on bringing increased internet speed to those areas as internet-based work and learning becomes more necessary and popular, the report noted.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has crystalized the demand for home high-speed broadband, as stay-at-home orders have resulted in multiple family members uploading and downloading large quantities of data simultaneously within a household,” the report read.

Federal infrastructure bill:What's in it for New York?

Is help on the way?

Ricky Herbst, working for Lantek Fiber Optic Service, a contractor for Greenlight Networks, runs a new 12 fiber that will help to increase customer capacity along Elmwood Avenue in Brighton Thursday, April 26, 2018.

Indeed, the pandemic spurred a number of changes to broadband policy at the federal and state levels, including the FCC’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, which will invest $20.4 billion over 10 years to bring fixed broadband to rural homes and small businesses across then nation.

New York was awarded $10 million of the funding to serve 46,647 locations.

Another $7 billion was earmarked for broadband access expansion nationally in December 2020, about half of which went to the FCC’s Emergency Broadband Benefit Program to provide a $50-per-month broadband subsidy for low income households impacted by the pandemic. 

Earlier this year, the state launched the ConnectED NY program, which set aside at least $10 million for broadband access hotspots for approximately 50,000 students in economically disadvantaged school districts.

The federal infrastructure package, which passed the Senate and will be voted on by the House later this month, includes another $65 billion for broadband investments nationally. 

The state should focus on increased speeds and further affordability of broadband subscriptions for low income households, the report noted. Possible solutions include public-private partnerships and extending or making permanent the federal Emergency Broadband Program.

More:Report: Students in lower income New York schools twice as likely to be learning remotely

Sarah Taddeo is the consumer watchdog reporter for USA Today Network's New York State Team. Got a story tip or comment? Contact Sarah at STADDEO@Gannett.com or (585) 258-2774. Follow her on Twitter @Sjtaddeo. This coverage is only possible with support from our readers. Please consider becoming a digital subscriber.