ACLP Testimony Regarding NYC’s ‘Plan to Connect All New Yorkers to the Internet’
Today, the ACLP will provide testimony before the New York City Council’s Committee on Technology regarding “the city’s plan to connect all New Yorkers to the Internet.” A copy of our testimony is available here.
The testimony offers the Council 5 recommendations as it evaluates whether the city’s plan for universal broadband connectivity is adequate. In particular, the ACLP’s recommendations include:
- Recommendation #1: Define broadband connectivity terms like “access” and “adoption” accurately.
- Recommendation #2: Understand what the data say about broadband connectivity in NYC. These data make clear that (1) broadband is available to 99.98% of households and (2) broadband adoption rates have plateaued in recent years despite the availability of subsidies to offset subscription prices.
- Recommendation #3: Inventory existing efforts to close NYC ’s digital divide. The city can and should engage more and more effectively with the expert private and nonprofit firms working to bring more people online and delivering critical digital literacy training.
- Recommendation #4: Understand the costs and benefits of city actions to address broadband issues. Numerous past endeavors by city government underscore that NYC is poorly suited to build broadband infrastructure but well positioned to support targeted demand-side programming.
- Recommendation #5: Use these inputs to develop a strategy that positions city government as an enabler of the successful efforts of others to close the city’s digital divide.
Ultimately, the data are telling the city where to focus its attention and resources. There are clear – and longstanding – needs on the demand-side. More needs to be done to increase adoption rates and bolster digital skills across the entire city. The ACLP respectfully urges the Council and the Mayor to focus their energy here.
The ACLP recognizes that, while NYC is unique in many respects, it faces a similar set of broadband challenges - namely lagging adoption rates and low levels of digital literacy in many communities - with other large cities like Boston, Baltimore, Chicago, Dallas, and Los Angeles. These cities are all well served by broadband from multiple providers but still have far too many people who have chosen to remain offline despite an available connection, low prices, and access to low-cost programs from ISPs. Unfortunately, policymakers in these cities and elsewhere continue to think that they can solve clear demand-side issues with supply-side interventions like deploying redundant and unnecessary public broadband infrastructure. The ACLP’s testimony - and much of its past work - make clear relevance, not price, remains the biggest barrier to more robust broadband adoption. It is time for cities to recognize this dynamic and respond in kind. The ACLP hopes NYC can set an example for these other cities.