Expand affordable municipal broadband in Upstate NY (Guest Opinion by Sen. Jeremy Cooney) [Video]

Jeremy Cooney, D-Rochester, represents the 56th District in the New York State Senate.

Access to affordable, reliable broadband may have once been viewed as a luxury, but there is no question that it has now become an integral part of our daily lives. Similar to how we view electricity and other utilities, internet access is essential in the 21st-century — critical for everything from remote work and job searching, to education and socializing. Yet the digital divide still persists in far too many communities across the state, where home broadband is still neither affordable nor accessible.

The situation is particularly dire in many rural and low-income areas of New York that have either no broadband options or just one provider who operates with a de facto monopoly. Even in areas where broadband is technically available, it might be financially out of reach for New Yorkers. According to a recent estimate, …