New York Municipal Broadband Awards See Scope Reductions
A Capital Projects Fund project was canceled while 15 others saw reductions in planned reach
August 21, 2026 – New York’s broadband projects funded by 2021 federal relief funds have undergone significant changes in both funding levels and planned reach since first announced.
An analysis from the Advanced Communications Law and Policy Institute, released Thursday, tracked 34 projects funded in part through the Treasury’s Capital Projects Fund. It found the grant revisions across projects have added about $38 million in funding, while the programs’ combined planned reach declined by roughly 34,000 locations.
Nearly all of New York’s $345.5 million federal Capital Projects Fund allocation was designated toward two broadband programs.
The state earmarked $240.4 million for the Municipal Infrastructure Program (MIP), which provides grants to municipalities, nonprofits, municipal utilities and other eligible entities to build open and accessible broadband infrastructure; and $87.9 million for the Affordable Housing Connectivity Program (AHCP), which provides funding to internet service providers, infrastructure developers and other eligible entities to install or upgrade fiber and other broadband infrastructure serving affordable housing properties.
The two programs address different parts of New York’s broadband infrastructure, but face the same upcoming federal completion deadline of Dec. 31, 2026. Some projects have received or sought extensions that could extend the deadline to June 30, 2027.
According to the ACLP analysis, fifteen of the 34 projects tracked now have lower planned reach than when they were first announced.
MIP projects now collectively anticipate passing approximately 19,000 fewer locations than initially announced in early 2024, a reduction of about 15 percent. AHCP projects are expected to cover roughly 15,000 fewer households, representing a 44 percent reduction.
ACLP calculated that funding per location within MIP increased from approximately $2,113 initially to $2,661 based on the latest figures, a 26 percent increase. For AHCP, the figure increased from $957 to $1,822 per household, a 91 percent increase.
Individual projects show how substantially the figures can vary. In Oswego, for example, the planned number of locations declined from 10,792 to 2,319, while the grant increased from $26 million to $29.5 million. In Schoharie, funding increased from $30 million to $42.4 million, while planned locations increased more modestly, from 4,000 to 4,390.
Other projects have been cancelled or significantly reduced
ACLP records a $26 million award to the Central New York regional planning and development board as cancelled. The planned 275-mile open access fiber network would have served primarily Cayuga and Cortland counties.
Meanwhile, a Franklin County project involving the Development Authority of the North Country was significantly reduced. When Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the $2.4 million award for the Franklin County/DANC project in July 2024, the plan called for 36 miles of open access fiber to reach about 1,600 locations. However, ACLP’s latest figures show a planned reach of just two locations.
The report does not establish a single explanation for the revisions. It points to several factors that may have influenced project changes, including higher construction, labor, materials, right-of-way and pole-access costs.
Project deadlines and natural expansion by private broadband providers are other considerations.
ACLP, a research and policy institute based at New York Law School, highlighted difficulty in tracking these changes through New York’s public reporting. Project figures appear across board materials, fact sheets, performance reports and other documents rather than in a single, continuously updated record.
The Treasury’s Capital Projects Fund provided $10 billion under the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act to states, territories, and Tribal governments for critical infrastructure projects, enabling remote work, education, and health monitoring
