Analysts Call for Public Broadband as Thousands Remain Offline in NYC
New York City’s reliance on companies like Spectrum and Verizon has not delivered affordable or universal service, analysts say.
April 17, 2026 – New York City should shift away from subsidizing private internet providers and instead build publicly owned broadband infrastructure, analysts said in a new report Wednesday.
“For decades, the city has tried to solve this problem by giving money to companies like Verizon and Spectrum, hoping they'll build in underserved neighborhoods,” wrote policy advisors Suzi Ragheb and Katherine Jin for Tech Policy Press. “It hasn't worked.”
The authors pointed to the Big Apple Connect program, a partnership with Charter Communications Spectrum and Altice (Optimum) launched in 2022, as an example.
Member discussion