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Q&A
Potential impact on residents and concerns about long-term funding for Big Apple Connect
1:02:43
·
3 min
Council Member Gutiérrez raises concerns about the potential impact on residents if the Big Apple Connect program were to end, and questions the long-term sustainability of the program without baseline funding. Brett Sikoff addresses these concerns and explains the current situation.
- If the program were to end, residents would likely see a sharp increase in their monthly bills for internet and cable services.
- The negotiated rates for Big Apple Connect are significantly lower than market rates for comparable services.
- OTI aims to secure funding year-to-year if the program cannot be baselined in the city's budget.
- There are ongoing negotiations with providers to maintain the program and potentially offer additional services in the future.
Jennifer Gutiérrez
1:02:43
Beyond this year.
1:02:44
Okay.
1:02:45
So can you if for some reason the city were to end their contract with Spectrum, would residents face an increase to the cost of their Internet?
1:03:06
What I guess what is the commitment from Spectrum and Altice?
1:03:10
How how can they afford that?
1:03:12
How with no baseline funding, what is that looking like?
Brett Sikoff
1:03:15
So we negotiated early on in the administration, we negotiated that very low price point.
1:03:21
You mentioned $24.95 for Charter.
1:03:23
It's about $25 and change for Altice at a very competitive price, well below the market rate for the services that we negotiated.
1:03:30
You mentioned the cable TV, the high speed Internet, the very high speed Internet, the modem, the router, the cable box remote control, all that, which has a market rate well over $100 per unit.
1:03:41
So that's what a comparable rate would be for those services that we're getting for, dollars $24.25.
1:03:47
So for those folks who are already a cable subscriber, a subscriber to Charter royalties, their cable bills in many cases were brought down to zero.
1:03:57
If only had basic cable and Internet, they started getting $0 bills.
1:04:03
For those folks who may have had packages where they had premium services, all those services that we negotiate that we pay for were stricken from their bill.
1:04:11
So it went down considerably.
1:04:13
So if they were paying just $190 per month for a cable package, the high speed Internet, the basic cable, the modem router, cable box, all that, all those chargers were removed from their bill because the city was paying for that.
1:04:27
So I think it's safe to say, to answer your question, Chair, if the program were to go away, residents will see a sharp increase in their monthly bills.
1:04:37
In some cases from zero if they're only getting the base services to something more substantial, or if they're already getting a bill for incremental premium services that they've signed for sign up for.
1:04:48
Those base services will now be added to that bill.
1:04:51
So it's it's in our hope and expectation that we'll be able to fund Big Apple Connect in the short term and and for a long time to come.
Jennifer Gutiérrez
1:04:59
But if they're not if we're not for some for whatever reason, if the city is not able to baseline this funding in in the f y twenty five budget and moving forward f y twenty six, what about what of your negotiations with these providers, what is the incentive for them to maintain the price for residents as low as they are?
Brett Sikoff
1:05:24
I can't speculate what their incentive is, but it from our perspective, from my speaking personally, we would seek to secure the funding year to year.
1:05:33
If it can't be baselined or if it's not yet baselined in the city's budget, we would just secure the funding that's necessary to keep the Big Apple Connect program in place year to year.
Jennifer Gutiérrez
1:05:45
Okay.
1:05:46
I'm gonna pause on the Big Apple Connect questions.
1:05:48
I know council member Holden's got some questions and then we'll come back.
1:05:51
Thank you.