Policyband

Benton Researcher Says ‘No Meaningful Opportunity’ to Know if N.Y.’s Affordable Broadband Law Is Working

Benton's Caroline Stratton found 1,253 New York households enrolled in ABA plans in 2025 based on a partial data set. About 1.2 million N.Y. households were eligible under the law

Ted Hearn

Apr 2, 2026 — 8 min read

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NY ABA: Benton Institute researcher Caroline Stratton said New York can’t yet measure the reach of the five-year-old Affordable Broadband Act. Stratton, who holds a Ph.D. in information studies from the University of Texas, analyzed Internet service provider compliance reports filed with the New York Public Service Commission and found that enrollment data was too incomplete to determine how many households were using low-cost ABA Internet access plans for eligible low-income households. “How many households subscribe to New York state ABA plans? We cannot say,” Stratton said in an April 1 report. There’s a good reasons for this result: Stratton got her hands on a partial data set. Major New York ISPs such as Charter, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Optimum filed their ABA enrollment data confidentially. Comcast – which as about 33,133 New York locations, according to Stratton – reported just 326 ABA enrollees.