Advanced Communications Law and Policy Institute

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IN OUR VIEW: Misleading Study Paints Inaccurate Picture Of New York Broadband Grant Programs

A recent study suggesting New York State officials are trying to hide that the state’s ambitious grant programs are facing significantly higher costs and lower reach doesn’t appear to be based in reality, and originates from a group that fails to disclose its funding.

A recent analysis of New York State’s broadband grant programs by the Advanced Communications Law and Policy Institute (ACLP) at New York Law School claims that New York State’s ConnectALL Municipal Infrastructure Program (MIP) is facing $38 million in higher costs, resulting in 34,000 fewer connections than originally promised.

“10 projects have had their grant revised up by at least 5 percent since first announced, against 7 revised down,” the analysis claims. “The upward revisions add about $38M to the programs’ combined cost. To cover these increased costs, the state moved unspent funds from the AHCP program to cover the MIP shortfall.”

The study also claims, incorrectly, that New York State is attempting to hide this data from the public.

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“This fact was buried in a footnote in the state’s latest CPF Performance Report submitted to the U.S. Treasury in July,” the authors wrote, at other times insisting that “none of these changes were announced by the state broadband office,” and that “New York does not report these grants consistently.”

But there’s a problem: despite the study making the rounds at various media outlets, there’s little evidence that the analysis is accurate.