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Q&A
Data on broadband access and adoption in New York City
0:18:15
·
168 sec
Council Member Gutiérrez questions OTI officials about current data on broadband access and adoption in NYC. The officials provide some general information but lack specific data on household connectivity rates.
- OTI states that broadband access is nearly 100% across NYC, but adoption rates vary
- Approximately 10% of people don't have either home broadband or mobile service
- Officials unable to provide exact current figures on household connectivity, promising to follow up with more detailed data
Jennifer Gutiérrez
0:18:15
Thank you so much.
0:18:19
I wanted to begin my questions today with just kind of level setting a little bit and just ask some foundational questions.
0:18:30
And so I hope you can answer because they are data driven questions.
0:18:35
The first one is, can you share how many households in New York City are without any broadband or cellular access?
Brett Sikoff
0:18:44
So based on current data, I mean, we in our broadband and our digital equity road map, we've tried to set out what the universe is of broadband accessibility in New York City.
0:18:56
As of today, there is virtually entire coverage of broadband in New York City.
0:19:01
So there's no residents where you cannot get broadband service in your home.
0:19:07
So there's a question of access versus adoption.
0:19:09
Right?
0:19:10
Access is virtually 100% connectivity available to residents across the city.
0:19:15
Say for some areas that may be, you know, like cemeteries and around the airports where there's just no residential buildings.
0:19:23
In terms of adoption, based on recent figures, it's estimated that there are roughly about 10% of people that don't have the combination of home broadband and mobile service, so either one of those two things.
0:19:38
But clearly, when the administration took office, there was this particular constituency, public housing residents, that had very clearly, based on census data, 30 to 40% of New York City public housing residents did not have home broadband.
0:19:54
So that is why the Big Apple Connect program was a huge victory for not just public housing residents, but for the city as a whole to be able to deliver those services to the people most
Jennifer Gutiérrez
0:20:02
in Oh, I'm sorry.
0:20:04
You're saying every single household has access.
0:20:07
Correct.
0:20:07
Right.
0:20:08
How many household has Internet connectivity at home and how many of them although it exists because they have the access to it, do you have the data that says how many households have active Internet at home outside of Big Apple Connect and how many have cellular have phones they can access their Internet
Christopher Leon Johnson
0:20:28
at I
Brett Sikoff
0:20:29
don't have that particular data in front of me, but what I would say is that the whole reason for, to your question, whether it's home broadband or mobile broadband, some people just prefer to use their cell phone as either their primary or only means of connecting to the Internet, which is why it's part of our larger holistic strategy to ensure that folks have broadband in the home.
0:20:48
But if not, we want to improve cellular communications throughout the city by through our link five gs program, mobile telecommunications, information services, all the other programs and franchises that we offer.
Jennifer Gutiérrez
0:20:59
So you don't have that information?
Brett Sikoff
0:21:01
I don't have that specific information.
0:21:02
We can get that for you.