State Senator Says Fiber Tax “Punitive”

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Broadband outreach to rural communities in New York is the pet project of New York Senator George Borrello, who has sponsored broadband bills and campaigned for better internet options. He hotly opposed what he believes would be a punitive tax on fiber optic cable in state road rights-of-way, reports the Salamanca Press. Borrello told the Press that the tax will hurt communities who are struggling to get connected. 

“This is utterly unacceptable,” said Borrello. “The digital divide has become a digital chasm and one that threatens to leave our kids and rural families with a permanent educational and economic disadvantage. It is disingenuous of the governor to tout the state’s investment in expanding broadband access even as he attempts to recapture some of those funds with a new fee. Those who stand to be hurt the most by this move are rural residents, who will see hoped-for broadband projects abandoned by companies who can’t afford to absorb this new expense,” he added.

The state of New York has invested in broadband, and claims a 98 percent penetration rate, aided in part by $500 million from the Broadband for All Grant. Borrello challenges this claim, stating that vast rural areas of the state remain underserved. “However, the even larger obstacle to connecting our rural areas is the counterproductive fee on fiber optic internet cables that was quietly slipped into the FY20 state budget,” he said.

As evidence, Borrello cited a recent independent report found that 27 percent of all students in the state were still without adequate internet. In hard numbers, this translates to 726,000 K-12 students who could not reach online educational materials while the pandemic has kept them away from school. 

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