Internet Service Providers React to $15 Rates in New York

AT&T announced that it will withdraw its 5G home Internet product in New York rather than comply with the law that requires it to offer broadband rates as low as $15. The law went into effect recently when the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal for the New York law approved by the New York legislature in 2018. The Affordable Broadband Act requires internet service providers (ISPs) to offer broadband rates to low-income households of no more than $15 for 15 Mbps (rumored to soon to be 100 Mbps) or $20 for 200 Mbps. It’s pretty extraordinary when a huge company like AT&T walks away from a state over reduced profits. The company has $122 billion in revenues for the year ending September 2024, and it’s impossible to believe that the company can’t afford to give a discount to a few of its customers. It’s hard to think that New York regulators won’t quickly react to AT&T walking away from existing FWA customers. This decision might ultimately cost the company more in fines than what it would lose from customer discounts.