New York State Requires Internet Providers to offer Discounted Internet Service to Low Income residents

NEW YORK -New York can move ahead with a law requiring internet service providers to offer heavily discounted rates to low-income residents, a federal appeals court ruled Friday. The decision from the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan reverses a lower court ruling from 2021 that blocked the policy. The law would force internet companies to give some low-income New Yorkers broadband service for as low as $15 a month, or face fines from the state. Telecom trade groups sued over the law, arguing it would cost them too much money and that it wrongly superseded a federal law that governs internet service. New York state lawmakers approved the law in 2021 as part of the budget, with supporters arguing that the policy would give low-income residents a way to access the internet, which has become a vital utility.