What Happened To New York City’s Internet Master Plan?

In January 2020, under former Mayor Bill de Blasio (D-NY), New York City released an ambitious $2.1 billion plan for universal broadband across the city — the first effort of any large US city to strategize delivery of equitable internet access to all its residents. The proposal was to build a “neutral host” infrastructure that could be shared by multiple internet operators rather than a single company, increasing competition to the entrenched private companies that had failed to address New York’s digital divide. In forging this infrastructure, the city would provide opportunities for community-based providers to use the city-owned property for expanded, affordable service. Hearings with the Office of Technology and Innovation — a new agency under current Mayor Eric Adams (D-NY) — in May revealed that the plan was being put on hold and re-evaluated. And then, this September, Mayor Adams announced Big Apple Connect, a partnership with Altice and Charter to bring affordable service to the 300,000 New Yorkers living in public housing. Sources point out that by abandoning the Internet Master Plan the city is likely to lose out on federal funding from the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), which allocates $65 billion to increase broadband access and will prioritize under-connected communities. It’s an unfortunate end for a plan that positioned itself as the first effort of a big US city to strategize delivery of equitable internet access to all its residents. “Other cities will be looking at us now, and they might think the best way to address digital equity is the Big Apple Connect approach, and that’s not the message we want the country to see,” said co-founder of Silicon Harlem, Clayton Banks. “A plan must be in favor of the people, not the providers,” Banks says.