On 20-Aug-2026 the Advanced Communications Law and Policy Institute published a review of New York’s two federally funded broadband grant programs, and the headline finding is uncomfortable: since the awards were first announced, they have taken on about $38 million more in funding while their combined planned reach has fallen by roughly 34,000 locations.
What the review found
The analysis tracked 34 awards funded in part through the U.S. Treasury’s Capital Projects Fund — 22 under the Municipal Infrastructure Program (MIP), which funds municipalities, nonprofits and municipal utilities to build open-access infrastructure, and 12 under the Affordable Housing Connectivity Program (AHCP), which pays providers to wire affordable housing. Together they represent more than $300 million in state and federal money.
MIP’s planned locations dropped by about 19,000, a 15% reduction, pushing cost per location from roughly $2,113 to $2,661 — a 26% increase. AHCP fared worse on reach: planned households fell by about 15,000, or 44%, with cost per household rising from about $957 to $1,822. In total, 15 of the 34 tracked projects now plan fewer connections than when they were announced; 10 awards were revised upward in dollars and 7 downward.
Where the biggest changes landed
The revisions are not spread evenly. An Oswego County MIP project went from 10,792 planned locations to 2,319 — a 79% cut — while its cost rose 13% to $29.5 million. A Schoharie County award grew 41%, from $30 million to $42.4 million, but its reach grew only about 10%. On the housing side, a Manhattan and Bronx AHCP project fell from 6,080 households to 3,607, and a Buffalo project from 5,033 to 3,353. A $26 million CNY Open Access grant was cancelled outright.
No single cause explains all of it. The review points to rising construction labor, materials, tariff and right-of-way costs, to private providers building into some areas on their own, and to federal deadline pressure — Capital Projects Fund work is expected to be substantially complete by the end of this year.
What this means if you live in New York
If you were told a state-funded build was coming to your address, this is a reason to verify rather than assume. A project can still be funded — funded at a higher dollar figure, even — and no longer include your street. That is precisely what happened in Oswego County. Check the current scope with your county broadband office or the awarded provider before you plan around it.
It is also worth separating two different clocks. The end-of-year Capital Projects Fund deadline is a program milestone for substantial completion, not a date service turns on at any particular home. Meanwhile the practical options have not changed: Spectrum and Xfinity cover much of the state, Frontier serves parts of it, and T-Mobile home internet or Starlink remain the realistic fallbacks in rural and mountainous areas where a grant build has been trimmed back.
Sources
- Wireless Estimator — “New York’s ConnectALL broadband grants got $38 million more expensive and 34,000 connections smaller” (20-Aug-2026)
- Broadband Breakfast — “New York Municipal Broadband Awards See Scope Reductions” (21-Aug-2026)