This document contains a critique of the recent NYC report on the state of broadband in the city. Here's an excerpt:

Almost No Mention of Connecting Low-Income Communities

The report does not discuss bringing broadband to those communities to who could benefit from technology the most low-income communities. Low-income children and families are mentioned once in the entire report. Instead the focus of the report is on attracting and retaining talented people and creative professionals as opposed to growing the talent who live and work in New York City already. The report also remarks that 38 percent of all New York City households have adopted broadband. That means 62 percent of all New York City households have not adopted broadband, and it is likely that most of these households are low-income households. According to recent data (2004) from Nielsen/Netratings and the Pew Internet and American Life Project, the penetration of high-speed Internet in [among households with incomes below $30,000] is around 10 percent.

Limited Mention of Wiring of Nonprofits and Small Businesses

Nonprofit Organizations

In New York City, there are over 27,000 registered nonprofit organizations, including over 9,000 public charities. These over 9000 public charities account directly for $43 billion in annual expenditures, more than 528,000 jobs, or 14% of New York City's employees, and an annual payroll of more than $22.7 billion. In addition, they had assets of $65 billion and revenues of more than $48 billion in the year 2000, which is larger than New York City's manufacturing sector. An estimated 200,000 additional jobs result indirectly from purchases by nonprofits of goods and services from private firms. Despite the apparent importance of the nonprofit sector is to the New York City's economy, there is only one action item of the Administration's telecommunications plan relating to the wiring of nonprofit organizations. Even then, that action item relates to a nonprofit organization, New York State Education and Research Network (or NYSERNet), not the City, working to help nonprofit organizations get access to a broadband connection. Also, while there is a plan for small businesses to be educated on the benefits of broadband, nonprofit organizations have been excluded from this initiative.

Small Businesses

The report focuses on the telecommunications needs of several of the large industries in New York City, most notably financial services, media, health care as well as telecommunications itself. Most of these industries are composed of the largest corporations in the City and are located in the central business districts in Manhattan. These industries are undoubtedly important to the health of New York City's economy. However, there is little mention of the many businesses that support these industries as well as the businesses that serve the workers of these industries who often reside outside of Manhattan. Even though the report concludes that small business have few broadband options and that small businesses often must wait longer [for a broadband connection] and do not receive the highest level of service, the report does not mention any concrete program to wiring small businesses outside of Manhattan besides the program to educate small businesses on the benefits of broadband. The report does state that the City will help Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) and Local Development Corporations (LDCs) deploy wireless networks for the small businesses they serve. However, the City's role in this initiative would be limited to helping local organizations explore the potential of wireless technologies for improving the availability of broadband in their neighborhoods, assisting them in developing project plans, and identifying potential service providers.