FCC Plotting to Exclude New York from Rural Digital Opportunity Fund

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) sounded the alarm on a misguided plan from the Federal Communications Commission that would exacerbate the digital divide in numerous Upstate New York communities and called on it to reverse course at once. The FCC’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund will allocate $20.4 billion to connect millions of rural homes and small businesses to high-speed, broadband internet. However, the senators explained, under a recent proposal from the FCC, New York would be excluded from this vital pool of federal funding, stripping the state of resources that could have a positive impact on educational, economic and health outcomes. In explaining the decision, the FCC sited New York’s participation in other programs to fund rural broadband projects, such as the FCC's Connect America Fund (CAF). Sens. Schumer and Gillibrand called this justification entirely insufficient, as New Yorkers in unserved communities require access to broadband to succeed in the 21^st century economy, and urged the FCC to allow all states to participate in the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund.