Broadband

Broadband internet service will soon be available to low-income New Yorkers for as little as $15 per month with an option to pay a few more dollars for higher speeds under an agreement reached in this year’s state budget.

This last year has been bad for many, not just because of the coronavirus, but schools closing or operating part-time and many parents working from home. All of that works if those homes have internet access and many don’t.

Within hours of the news Gov. Andrew Cuomo killed a bill requiring a look at where high-speed broadband existed in New York, a press aide said the governor still saw it as a good idea and would bring it up in budget talks. State Sen. George Borrello can tell him why it’s needed.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo wants to mandate internet service providers in New York to offer high-speed internet to low-income consumers at $15 per month, and is seeking to create a fund for families that can’t afford it at that rate.

When New York went into lockdown this spring, people across the state were required to adapt overnight to online learning, work, and even doctor's appointments. But as Executive Director of the Rural Schools Association of New York State David Little notes, not everyone was able to do that successfully.

A Rochester-based high-speed internet company could start providing service it says is five times faster and 25% less expensive than Spectrum in parts of Erie and Niagara counties as early as next year.

Broadband internet is coming to the Seneca Nation's rural Cattaraugus Territory. Under a deal announced Thursday, the federal Agriculture Department will put up more than $4 million and the Nation will kick in $3 million to provide connections to 85% of the Southern Tier territory.

Every student in the Buffalo Public Schools system now has access to a computer.

The New York State Public Service Commission has laid down the law to Charter Communications - the parent company of Spectrum - in a scathing order, for failing to meet the terms set when Charter acquired Time Warner Cable in 2016.

The New York State Public Service Commission on Thursday gave the green light to former Buffalo Sabres owner Tom Golisano. The PSC approved the sale of local broadband company Greenlight Networks to Golisano's Grand Oaks GLN, LLC. 

New York’s Broadband for All program hopes to bring broadband speed internet to the entire state by the end of 2018. This has led to an opportunity for local companies in rural areas, who are taking advantage of the state funds to expand to underserved customers.

New York State will get to keep $170 million in federal funding for broadband access after all.

Erie County wants to know: How good is your internet service? It is looking to find out where it is good and where it needs help or might be non-existent.

Community activists and elected officials are once again calling on Verizon to provide FiOS service in the City of Buffalo and they're looking to the New York State Public Service Commission for help. 

The push for reliable high-speed broadband internet across the community continues, with a town hall meeting Thursday night in Cheektowaga.