Assessing Broadband Equity in the New York Region

To understand the digital divide, we need to distinguish between availability–is it physically available to your home?–and accessibility–can you afford it, or have the ability to use it?

Broadband availability has grown significantly in recent years, as states have made strides in filling in gaps throughout the region. The FCC began collecting broadband availability data in 2014 through what’s known as Form 477. Broadband providers are required to file Form 477 twice a year, listing all census blocks where they provide service. This data is the standard for identifying gaps in broadband availability; however, it comes with a major caveat. If a broadband provider makes service available to even one home in a census block, even if that census block includes a dozen more homes where service is not available, the FCC will consider the entire census block ​“served.” Furthermore, a study from BroadbandNow found that over 20% of addresses nationwide are not served by all the broadband providers reported to the FCC in the Form 477 data for those addresses. For example, according to the 477 data, an address may be reported to have three broadband providers to choose from, but in reality, only have one.

In other words, there are countless homes that are considered ​“served” according to the FCC’s methodology based on Form 477 data, but high-speed internet is not actually available. Similarly, there are countless homes that have multiple providers based on the Form 477 data, but only one high-speed internet provider is actually available.

The 477 data shows that in 2020, only 0.7% of the tri-state region’s population lacked broadband service of at least 100Mbps, down from 2.3% in 2016. Although this is likely an undercount because of the flaws with the 477 reporting data, it is true that there are few areas in the tri-state area that lack broadband availability by this definition. Efforts by state governments, such as the New York State Broadband Program Office (BPO), created in 2015, have expanded broadband access to previously unserved and underserved areas. The BPO uses a ​“reverse auction” system to allocate state grants to broadband providers to expand their networks into unserved and underserved areas. In New York State, the BPO reports achieving broadband availability of 97%, up from 70% when it began. Earlier this summer, the NYS Public Service Commission also launched an unprecedented address-level broadband map of New York State; however, the data is not currently available to download.

New Jersey signed into law a bill establishing the Broadband Access Study Commission last year, but as of April no appointments had been made. Governor Murphy has also indicated that some portion of the $190 million American Rescue Plan money earmarked for capital projects will go toward expanding broadband infrastructure. In Connecticut, the state has allocated $43 million for improving broadband for low-income households and those in multi-family housing.

As more and more states close in on universal broadband availability, it’s important to distinguish between availability and accessibility or affordability. With an average monthly cost of $45-$60 , many households have difficulty affording a subscription. Additionally, the cost of a computer may also be prohibitive for some households. In other cases, technical challenges may be preventing people from accessing broadband.

The American Communities Survey (ACS) began releasing data on internet access in their 2016 release, which provides a useful look at how many households and individuals actually have access to broadband internet, rather than simply having it available to them. Between 2016 and 2020, the latest year available, the percentage of households without broadband access actually increased slightly, from 11.5% to 12.5%. This may be due to increasing cell data speeds and smart phone adoption. In 2019, Pew found that among people without broadband nationwide, nearly half (45%) cited that their smartphone was sufficient for their needs, up from 27% in 2015.

Census tract-level ACS data show which communities lack broadband access at home. These tend to be immigrant communities and communities of color, religious enclaves, and some rural parts of the region. It is likely that the reasons for the lack of broadband access are different depending on the community.

Knowing where people are lacking broadband is a good place to start, but the ACS data can also tell us more about who they are. Among the factors analyzed, income has the strongest correlation with broadband service, followed by age and race.

Income and Subregion

Unsurprisingly, lower-income people are less likely to have broadband at home. In fact, income is the factor most correlated with lack of broadband. New York City has a lower broadband adoption rate than the rest of the region, with the lowest income quintile being about 4 times more likely to not have broadband than the highest quintile. The NYS PSC 2022 Broadband Assessment Program Report found that counties with the highest median incomes also had the lowest prices and fastest service on average.

Race

Black and Latinx individuals are far less likely to have access to broadband internet at home than white and Asian individuals. Regionwide, around one quarter of Black and Latinx households lack broadband access compared with 16% for white and Asian households. The disparity remains even accounting for income. Even in the top income quintile, Black people are nearly twice as likely to not have broadband at home as white and Asian people.

Age

Seniors are far less likely to have broadband at home compared with other age groups, regardless of income. More than half of low-income seniors lack broadband at home.

Computer Access

With the growing adoption of smartphones, many homes have opted for cell phone data plans in lieu of broadband. Twelve percent of the region has a cell phone data plan, but no broadband at home. As these data plans have become faster and cheaper, that percentage is actually rising, especially among Black and Latinx homes. Regionwide, nearly half of people with no broadband do not have a computer, laptop, or tablet at home. Among Latinx people, 55% do not have a computer.

The barriers to broadband equity include cost of service, cost of hardware, lack of infrastructure that anticipates future broadband needs, and the lack of data to measure broadband access, affordability, and quality.

Cost of Service

Cost of service is cited as a major barrier in many studies. The average monthly cost of between $45-$60 remains prohibitive for many households, and competition - long held up as the answer to providing more affordable service - may not actually provide much relief. According to a 2020 nationwide study from Broadband Now, the average lowest price for service decreased from $70 per month in counties with only one provider to $68.50 per month in counties with two. Even in counties with ten or more providers, the average lowest price was just under $65 per month.

Fortunately, there have been several recent policy changes to address the high cost of service. In 2021, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a law requiring internet service providers to provide a tier of service priced at $15 per month. Additionally, the FCC’s Affordable Connectivity Program offers a $30 per month subsidy for eligible households, though only around 40% of eligible households in New York City are enrolled, and as few as 20% of eligible households in the tri-state area. One analysis from the Benton Institute for Broadband and Society points to local nonprofit groups and public libraries as two of the actors that have improved enrollment rates in their communities.

Cost of Hardware

In addition to the monthly cost of broadband service, the upfront cost of buying a computer or tablet can be prohibitive for many households. One half of those without broadband do not have a computer at home. The FCC’s Affordable Connectivity Program offers a one-time $100 discount on devices like laptops or tablets, however those devices typically cost several times that amount.

Coverage

While nearly all of the region now has access to some form of broadband, the speed and number of providers in many areas remain insufficient. Additionally, as policymakers work to close today’s digital divide, they must also ensure that rapidly changing technology doesn’t open up future gaps. Emerging technologies like the ​“internet of things” may soon be as necessary to everyday life as streaming video, and even the internet itself. Some plans, such as the 2020 NYC Internet Master Plan, are forward thinking in planning for 1 Gbps, beyond the need of most households today. As the Cornell Tech’s Rebooting NYC report points out, however, these speeds can only be provided by fiber, which has a much more limited reach than DSL and coaxial cable. To address this gap in coverage, the 2020 NYC Internet Master Plan proposed an immediate $157 million expansion in public broadband infrastructure in the highest priority areas, out of an estimated total cost of $2.1 billion for all proposed broadband projects. In June, however, Gothamist reported that the Adams administration had put the expansion on hold as they re-evaluated the previous administration’s plan, frustrating many of the tech equity advocates that had worked on it.

Data Quality

There remains a lack of reliable data on broadband availability, speed, and costs, and the FCC has it up to the states to collect data to supplement datasets like the flawed Form 477. California, for example, developed an app to allow residents to test and report their internet speeds, providing the state with critical data that would be too costly to collect itself. New York State’s Broadband Assessment Program has made huge strides in collecting critical broadband data, but New Jersey and Connecticut have not yet undertaken such an effort.