Jaclyn Jeffrey-Wilensky
NYC kills ‘Internet Master Plan’ for universal, public web access
Two and a half years after it was announced that New York City would spend $157 million to build municipal broadband infrastructure in poor neighborhoods, city officials have quietly canceled the plan. The now-nixed broadband expansion was the second phase of the 2020 Internet Master Plan, a massive endeavor launched during the de Blasio administration that aimed to connect 1.2 million New Yorkers to free or low-cost, high-speed internet.
New York City’s plan for public internet is paused under Mayor Adams
An ambitious plan to bring affordable high-speed internet to millions of people across New York City (NY) has been put on pause, leaving the poorest New Yorkers hanging while the Adams administration decides whether to proceed. The Internet Master Plan, which was announced in January 2020 by former Mayor Bill de Blasio (D-NY), was designed to help more than 1.5 million city residents who do not have any kind of internet access. It also aimed to bring more competition to areas with only one internet provider.