Expand NY Broadband Access

Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "omnibus telecommunications reform act of 2019".

§ 2. Legislative findings. 1. a. It is and has been the long-standing policy of the state of New York that every resident and business in the state of New York has a right to have equal physical and social access to adequate telecommunications services at just and reasonable rates, because universal access to the benefits of telephony is fundamental to effective communication, quality of life, economic development, public safety and security, and democratic participation. Telecommunications, however, is undergoing dramatic changes with new technologies driving the ways people communicate with one another. No matter the source or vehicle by which people communicate with each other, the people of this state have the right to adequate service at just and reasonable rates. Therefore, all telecommunications services must meet the highest standards of quality, reliability, and safety--including protecting and expanding the system of emergency 911 service--which requires sufficient investment in telecommunications infrastructure and, as many years of experience have shown, adequate staffing provided by trained, career employees operating under the applicable safety codes and regulations.

EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets

[ ] is old law to be omitted.

LBD04893-01-9

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b. While the state's long-standing mission has been to provide universal, affordable and reliable service to all New Yorkers, all citizens of the state do not have equal access to communications technologies that are becoming the standard bearers for the 21st century. In fact, the state lags behind in deploying communication networks that are the foundation of modern telecommunications. The lack of deployment of high-capacity telecommunications infrastructure services ("broadband") in rural, underserved, unserved, economically distressed and other areas of the state is affected with a public interest; the rates, services and operations of cable television companies are affected with a public interest and it is imperative that the state fairly regulate cable television services in the interest of the public, and; the public interest is furthered by comprehensive action in the area of telecommunications, and by the state's continued promotion of universally available telecommunications services of adequate service quality and at affordable rates, particularly in rural, high-cost and low income areas, and the state's entry into promoting the universal availability and physical and social access to high-quality broadband and advanced communications services at affordable rates.

c. The deployment of high-capacity broadband telecommunications networks and advanced communications networks throughout New York will promote improvements in healthcare, public safety, education, consumer choice, and the economy.

d. State action and public-private partnerships will be needed to deepen investment in, promote demand for, stimulate adoption of, and remove barriers to the development of universally deployed world-class high-capacity broadband networks, providing services to business and residential consumers in all areas of the state at competitive prices with adequate service quality.

e. Reasonably unfettered access of the citizenry to the maximally diverse Internet is in the public interest, consistent however with the need or company choice of telecommunications providers to block, limit or otherwise restrict the passage of electronic mail messages or other content that transmit, portray, describe, represent or otherwise contain matters such as child pornography or similar obscenity, other unlawful material, threats of serious bodily harm, threats to the public safety and homeland security, threats of death to individuals or groups of individuals, viruses or similar computer generated programs or codes that have the potential to harm computer hardware and/or software and/or networks, excessive unsolicited commercial email that degrades or interferes with or harms the normal operation of broadband networks, and other similar types or forms of material or software (the foregoing examples are illustrative, not exhaustive of such threats to users and/or the network).

2. a. New cable television services regulation is necessary to: (i) promote adequate, affordable and efficient cable television service to the citizens and residents of the state; (ii) encourage the optimum development of the educational, government and community-service potentials of the cable television medium; (iii) provide just and reasonable rates for cable television service without geographic discrimination; (iv) protect the interests of the municipalities of this state in relation to the issuance of municipal consents for the operations of cable television companies in those jurisdictions; (v) to protect the right of consumers to access the lawful internet content of their choice, to run applications and use services of their choice, subject to the requirements of law enforcement, and to connect their choice of

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legal devices that do not harm the network; and (vi) cooperate with other states and with the federal government in promoting and coordinating efforts to regulate cable television effectively in the public interest.

b. Competition in the provisioning of cable service is emerging with the convergence of preexisting and new technologies for providing voice, video and data services, which results in increased investment in the state, lower prices and improved service offerings for consumers.

c. Increased investment and the potential for competition in the cable service market through the provisioning of new communications services and deployment of advanced communications infrastructure further enhances economic opportunities, public safety, and the overall health and well-being of the residents of the state.

d. State-issued franchises for the provision of cable service will promote and facilitate the deployment of advanced technologies and new services to all classes of communities and protect New York's ability to compete in the national and international marketplace for industry and jobs.

e. Modifying existing cable service regulation through the enactment of new standards and procedures that provide consumers with access to a competitive facilities-based cable market and also preserves municipalities historic authority to manage public rights-of-way, collect a franchise fee up to five percent of gross revenue, administer public educational and government access channels, enforce consumer protections and ensure competitive cable services are delivered in a nondiscriminatory manner is warranted in this state.

f. Nothing in this act shall be seen to limit or reduce the protection afforded to cable television customers, broadband internet services customers, telephone customers, and customers of advanced communications services generally, and it is in the public interest to ensure that customers continue to be provided a high level of customer protection and customer service in a more competitive market.

3. Therefore, the legislature declares that the state needs to fundamentally reform the three key pillars of its vast telecommunications system--telephone, broadband internet access and cable television--to provide 21st Century technology to all New Yorkers that is safe, reliable and affordable.

§ 3. Article 11 and sections 4000, 4001 and 4002 of the public authorities law, article 11 as renumbered by chapter 168 of the laws of 1975 and sections 4000, 4001 and 4002 as renumbered by chapter 182 of the laws of 2005, are renumbered article 12 and sections 4200, 4201 and 4202 and a new article 11 is added to read as follows:

ARTICLE 11

BROADBAND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY Section 4100. Short title.

4101. Broadband development authority.

4102. Definitions.

4103. Powers of the authority.

4104. Board of directors.

4105. Broadband development and deployment council.

4106. Applications for broadband deployment financing; responsi-

bilities of the applicant to provide safe, reliable and

affordable service.

4107. Bonds and notes of the authority.

4108. Bonds and notes; personal liability.

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4109. Rights of authority to fulfill terms of agreement not

limited, altered, or impaired.

4110. Remedies of bondholders and noteholders.

4111. Grants or loans of public or private funds or in-kind

material.

4112. Exemption from taxes and assessments.

4113. Broadband and advanced communications development fund.

4114. Appropriations by any government or municipal corporation.

4115. Conveyance, lease or transfer of property by a city or

county to the authority.

4116. Actions against the authority.

4117. Audit power and contract approval by the comptroller.

4118. Annual report.

4119. Effect of inconsistent provisions.

4120. Severability.

§ 4100. Short title. This article shall be known and may be cited as the "broadband development authority act".

§ 4101. Broadband development authority. 1. The New York state broadband development authority is established in order to encourage the provision of affordable and reliable broadband services and networks that will:

(a) ensure the long term growth of and the enhancement and delivery of services by business, educational, medical, commercial, nonprofit, and governmental entities in unserved, underserved and distressed areas in New York;

(b) benefit residential, commercial, public, governmental, and nonprofit entities in unserved, underserved and distressed areas in New York; and

(c) to advance the availability of, and promote the physical and social access to, broadband and other advanced communications services to all consumers, including those in low income, rural, insular, and high cost areas at rates that are reasonably comparable to those charged in high-density urban areas and/or in the area of the state where such services are most competitively priced; and to increase access to, and the ubiquity of, advanced telecommunications services available to the public in an equitable and nondiscriminatory manner.

2. The authority shall administer the broadband development program, and shall, through the broadband development and deployment council created in section forty-one hundred five of this article, work to build and facilitate local technology and social access planning entities, and partnerships with broadband internet services providers and technology companies, and the private and nonprofit sectors generally, and such other programs as are reasonably calculated to facilitate the authority's achievement of its statutory duties.

§ 4102. Definitions. 1. "Authority" means the New York state broadband development authority created under section forty-one hundred one of this article.

2. "Unserved area" means any part of a municipality without readily and generally available retail consumer access to a facilities-based or fixed wireless broadband services provider. For the purposes of this section, the definition of wireless broadband services providers shall not include subscription satellite service.

3. "Underserved area" means any part of a municipality without readily and generally available retail consumer access to at least two or more nonaffiliated facilities-based or fixed wireless broadband telecommuni-

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cations services providers. Wireless shall not include subscription satellite service.

4. "Broadband" means the transmission of information, between or among points specified by the user, with or without change in the form or content of the information as sent and received, at minimum rates of transmission of two megabits per second downstream and one megabit per second upstream, or one hundred fifty percent of those transmission rates defined by the Federal Communications Commission as "broadband," or at those synchronous upstream and downstream transmission rates as may be recommended by the broadband council from time to time, whichever is fastest in speed.

5. "Broadband carrier" means any provider of broadband services, except aggregators of broadband services, as defined in section two hundred twenty-six of the nineteen hundred ninety-six telecommunications act.

6. "Broadband infrastructure" means all equipment and facilities, including all changes, modifications, and expansions to existing facilities, as well as the customer premises equipment used to provide broadband, and any software integral to or related to the operations, support, facilitation, or interconnection of such equipment, including upgrades, and any installation, operations and support, maintenance, and other functions required to support the delivery of broadband.

7. "Broadband service" means the offering of broadband for a fee directly to the public, or to such classes of users as to be readily available directly to the public, regardless of the facilities used.

8. "Open network" means any broadband infrastructure which is open to any third party users in a nondiscriminatory manner on a fair and equitable basis using publicly available access tariffs for services.