BILL NUMBER: S9271
SPONSOR: RYAN C
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the public service law, in relation to enacting the "NY
broadband resiliency, public safety and quality act"
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To authorize the Public Service Commission to exercise oversight,
promulgate rules and regulations, and conduct evaluations regarding the
resiliency, public safety, and quality of broadband and VolP service in
New York State.
 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 establishes the title "NY Broadband Resiliency, Public Safety,
and Quality Act."
Section 2 of the bill finds and declares that access to high-speed
broadband service is a necessity and essential to participation in the
economy, education and civic life.
Section 3 of the bill amends the public service law by adding article
12, which authorizes the Public Service Commission to exercise oversight
regarding broadband and VolP service, authorizes the public service
commission to promulgate rules and regulations necessary to implement
effective oversight, and authorizes the public service commission to
require internet service providers to report data on the pricing and
adoption of VolP and broadband service.
Section 4 of the bill requires the Public Service Commission to estab-
lish minimum network service quality benchmarks.
Section 5 is the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
Access to high-speed broadband services is a necessity and essential to
participation in the economy, education and civic life. While broadband
access has continued to increase across New York, there are still
regions that are unserved, specifically rural communities. Affordabili-
ty remains a barrier, especially in communities where median household
incomes are below the state average. For those who do have broadband
services in these communities, when emergency outages occur, they can be
the last to be served, leaving those in the most vulnerable situations
at risk for the longest periods of time.
Closing gaps in broadband availability is a matter of deployment,
affordability and ensuring networks are resilient, high quality and
facilitate public safety. Voice over internet protocol has replaced
traditional voice telephone service for a large segment of the popu-
lation, thus ensuring its reliability is in the public interest and
consistent with public safety goals. State regulators require unambig-
uous authority and a clear mandate to establish and enforce appropriate
oversight and regulation of broadband and voice over Internet protocol
service in order to meet the state's goals of universal, high-quality
and affordable access.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2021-2022: S5117 (Sean Ryan).
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.