Comptroller Stringer Calls on Charter Communications and Altice USA to Once Again Provide Free Broadband and WiFi Internet Access to All Student Households in New York City
With remote schooling a certainty for all city school children, Stringer calls on Charter Communications and Altice USA to provide free broadband and WiFi access to all city households with school-aged children, as both companies did last March for 60-day periods
Pervasive digital divide threatens upcoming school year as 44 percent of New Yorkers who live in poverty lack a high-speed internet connection in their homes
Stringer: “For many New Yorkers throughout this pandemic, access to broadband internet and reliable cellular data has become one of the most essential bridges to work, school, and loved ones. And yet, among New Yorkers who live in poverty, an astonishing 44 percent lack a high-speed internet connection in in their homes. Though this digital divide has persisted for years, with the pandemic now entering its seventh month, the severe impacts of this disparity are growing exponentially and can no longer be ignored.”
(New York, NY) — Today, New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer penned a letter to Charter Communications Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Thomas M. Rutledge and Altice USA Chief Executive Officer Dexter Goei calling on the internet service providers to provide free broadband and wireless internet to all elementary, middle, high school, and college households who lack internet access, as both companies did last spring for limited, 60-day periods. A staggering 44 percent of New Yorkers who live in poverty lack a high-speed internet connection in their homes. The Comptroller’s letters noted that the digital divide acutely impacts New Yorkers living in poverty and will undoubtedly harm the educational experience of hundreds of thousands of students with devastating, long-term economic and social consequences.
Comptroller Stringer spotlighted that as the city’s 1.1 million schoolchildren return to another academic year, their learning will absolutely require reliable broadband internet in their home to have access to teachers, course content, and instructional materials because every student will spend at least half of their school time engaged in remote learning.
“For many New Yorkers throughout this pandemic, access to broadband internet and reliable cellular data has become one of the most essential bridges to work, school, and loved ones. And yet, among New Yorkers who live in poverty, an astonishing 44 percent lack a high-speed internet connection in their homes,” said Comptroller Stringer. “Though this digital divide has persisted for years, with the pandemic now entering its seventh month, the severe impacts of this disparity are growing exponentially and can no longer be ignored. I am calling on Charter Communications and Altice USA to step forward and help the next generation of New Yorkers learn equitably and well, even in the midst of such an unprecedented disruption in their education. No one should stand idly by and watch as a generation of students is systematically left behind. In a nation that has brought you such great wealth and opportunity, what can you give back?”
The letters to Charter Communications and Altice USA follow a previous letter to the Mayor and Chancellor demanding the City create viable pathways to address the needs of the 100,000 city children who typically lack shelter during the course of the academic school year. These students face numerous systemic barriers to a quality education including unreliable internet and cellular service.
Click here and here to view the Comptroller’s letters to Charter Communications and Altice USA, respectively. To read Comptroller Stringer’s letter to the City on students in temporary housing, click here.
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