Low-income internet customers and potential customers in Pine Plains, and many surrounding areas, can now have access to the internet for as little as $15 a month — at least where wiring to the internet is available.
A years-long legal fight between internet providers and New York state ended last December, allowing the state Affordable Broadband Act, enacted in 2021, to take effect. Under the law, internet providers are required to offer low-income New Yorkers service of at least 25 megabytes per second for $15 a month or 400 mps for $20 a month. The law does not address the problem of areas that do not have broadband service.
Households in areas that are have cable or internet service can qualify by showing that they receive Medicaid; participate in the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (known as SNAP); receive free or reduced lunch through the National School Lunch Program; or participate in an affordability program run by a local utility.
However, the law does allow internet providers serving fewer than 20,000 customers to apply for a hardship exemption. G-Tel Communications, based in Germantown and serving Gallatin, has applied for one, and it is under review.
Optimum, which serves much of Pine Plains as a cable and internet provider, already has a program called Optimum Advantage Internet, under which customers can get a free connection, a router, and service of 50 mps for $14.95 a month, according to its website. A spokesperson for the company, Erin Smyth, said Optimum plans to expand its marketing of the program.