New York Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand are accusing the federal government of excluding the state from a $20 billion fund to expand rural broadband.
The Democrats are calling a proposal by the Federal Communications Commissionto cut New York out of the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund misguided.
The Senators say FCC is defending its plan by citing the state’s participation in other rural broadband programs.
In a letter to FCC Chair Ajit Pai, Schumer and Gillibrand write the agency “threatens to exacerbate the digital divide in multiple communities across New York State.”
According to a 2019 FCC report, nearly 20 percent of state residents lack access to fixed terrestrial broadband.
