“Our materials have been updated, including all internal documents and training, as well as our external website,” Optimum told us on Wednesday this week.
The law was in the works for years.
Broadband lobby groups convinced a federal judge to Block New York Affordability Law in 2021, but a US appeals court reversed the ruling in April 2024. The Supreme Court decided not to listen The case in mid-December, allowing the law to come into effect.
New York had agreed to delay enforcement until 30 days after the final resolution of the case, which meant it took effect on January 15. The state issued a order on January 9 reminding ISPs that they had to comply.
“We have been working as quickly as possible to update all of our internal and external materials since the ABA was implemented just last week; there was a fairly quick turnaround among state officials notifying us of the expected implementation date and pushing this live” . Optimum told ARS.
AT&T decided Stop offering completely Your Home 5G Internet service in New York instead of complying with state law. The law does not affect smartphone service, and AT&T does not offer wired home Internet in New York.
Optimum told us it plans to market its low-income plan “more widely and conduct additional outreach in low-income areas to educate customers and the prospects of this offering. We want to make sure those eligible for this plan know and sign up and register.”
O’Brien was disappointed he couldn’t get a faster service plan. As noted above, New York Law allows ISPs to comply with a $15 plan with download speeds of at least 25Mbps or a $20 plan with at least 200Mbps. ISPs don’t have to offer both.
“I asked about 200Mbps Service, but they said they are not offering that,” he said. Optimum offers a $25 plan with speeds of 100 Mbps for low-income users. But even in New York, that is still not available to customers who were already subscribed to any other plan.
Failure to comply with New York law can be punishable by civil penalties of up to $1,000 per violation. The state attorney general can sue Internet providers to enforce the law. O’Brien said he intended to file a complaint against Optimum with the AG and still hopes to get a 200 Mbps plan.
We reached out to Attorney General Letitia James’ office on Wednesday to ask about enforcement plans and whether the office has received any complaints so far, but have not received a response.