State of New York Archives: on Technology

Zephyr Teachout: Open universal broadband: 21st Century Internet

At present, we are staggeringly far from that reality. Huge swaths of New York State lack reliable broadband infrastructure. Slow and spotty Internet access is a problem in New York City, Long Island, throughout the Southern Tier lakeside, along the St. Lawrence, and everywhere in between. In some commercial districts it's still difficult to get a broadband connection at all.

Worse, deficiencies in this essential service also compound inequality. Inadequate broadband infrastructure and unnecessarily high prices exclude members of underserved communities and low-income residents from accessing resources online in their homes. Yet we know that affordable, high-speed, broadband Internet is critical for finding work in today's economy.