Redlined in Duanesburg, NY

Rural areas in NYS are in need of broadband amid the COVID-19 pandemic | WHEC.com: Felton has lived on Creek Road there for nearly 25 years. She never thought all these years later, and all these years of technological advances later, she still wouldn’t have broadband. Amid the pandemic, she and her husband have been working from home. Her daughter has been doing her schoolwork right alongside them. Fortunately, they can afford a hot spot, but it doesn’t always work.

She said for the past six years she has been trying to get broadband to all the town. Duanesburg has a franchise agreement with Charter Communications. “Our town franchise requires them to serve areas with 20 homes per mile, this road that I live on we have about 10 homes per mile,” said Felton. “We're not in the middle of nowhere. I'm two miles from Hannaford and I still don't have a wired connection because there's not sufficient return on investment for Charter to provide it.”

For two decades, the lack of sufficient return on investment has been identified as the cause of America's advanced telecom infrastructure deficiencies. It raises a fundamental question: If universal and affordable access are goals as many public policymakers assert, why do they continue to expect investor owned companies to fill the gaps when the cash flow isn't there? It's the Einsteinian definition of insanity. In this case, pursuing the same public policy and expecting a different result.