Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Comcast Should Give NYC Public Housing Residents Free WiFi
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Oct 29, 2014
Modified Oct 29, 2014
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Oct 29, 2014
Modified Oct 29, 2014
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Comcast wants to control 35% of the broadband internet service in the country. Netflix and The Discovery Channel want sweeter deals. The FCC wants faster speeds and more access. And in New York City, where a third of residents have no Internet at all, politicians want Comcast to pay for broadband in public housing and community centers.
"Should these two cable giants merge, it is essential that New Yorkers have the customer protections and digital services they need,” Councilmember Ben Kallos said in a statement. Kallos and more than a dozen other state and local officials wrote a letter to the New York State Public Service Commission today, asking them not to allow Comcast to merge with Time Warner in our market (and pick up 2.5 million customers in the process) unless they provide for universal broadband, "improvements infrastructure, transparency, and customer service," and a guaranteed commitment to Net Neutrality.
“This merger is only in the public interest if it greatly expands and does not diminish the opportunities our digital city has to offer," Kallos said.
California is the only other state that has yet to sign off. The FCC is still weighing the deal; its chairman, Tom Wheeler, pointed out earlier this month that "there is an inverse relationship between competition and broadband speed," and that three quarters of the country "have no competitive choice at 25 Mbps. That includes almost 20 percent who have no option at all at those speeds!"
Responding to Netflix and Discovery's self-interested demands for higher carriage fees and a waiver of interconnection charges, Comcast seems to have forgotten that they are the largest broadcasting and cable conglomerate in the world. "The Commission should forcefully reject these extortionate, anti-consumer efforts, which clearly have nothing to do with the public Internet," they wrote to the FCC.
You know what does have to do with "the public internet?" Giving the public free access to the internet.
Asked by the Times about New York's demands, a Comcast spokesperson dodged the question, and said it would keep on charging low-income families $10/month for their service.
“We believe we have successfully demonstrated the benefits our investment will bring to residential and commercial customers across New York."
Tagged
comcast
corporate governance has its drawbacks
Monopoly as underdog
Net Neutrality
Pay the cost to be the boss
Time Warner
universal broadband
Christopher Robbins
Christopher Robbins is a New York City reporter covering transportation, affordable housing, local politics, and criminal justice. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Chris is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Virginia, and enjoys biking to Fort Tilden in the summertime.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Queens man charged with hate crime at Jewish-owned bagel shop displaying Israeli flags
Prosecutors say the 22-year-old damaged property outside the Fresh Meadows shop twice in May.
By
Giulia Heyward
Published Oct 19, 2026 at 6:07 p.m. ET
MTA train yards are in such bad shape plants are growing out of the roof, watchdog says
In some cases, the damage was “clearly not recent."
By
Stephen Nessen
News
MTA train yards are in such bad shape plants are growing out of the roof, watchdog says
In some cases, the damage was “clearly not recent."
By
Stephen Nessen
High-ranking NYC officials to testify in ex-buildings boss Eric Ulrich's corruption trial
By
David Brand
Mamdani launches new team to help NYers keep SNAP, Medicaid benefits
By
Caroline Lewis
Riders at 53rd St. station where man was fatally shot say they worry about gun violence
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .