New York Codes, Rules and Regulations › Title 9 - EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT › Subtitle A - Governor's Office › Chapter I - Executive Orders › Part 7 - Executive Orders (David A. Paterson) › Section 7.22 - Executive order no. 22: establishing a broadband development and deployment council

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 28, July 10, 2024
WHEREAS, New York State recognizes the importance of
					 universal deployment of broadband to ensure the welfare of New York's citizens
					 and economy by stimulating economic development, increasing learning
					 opportunities and connecting all New Yorkers to the wide array of resources
					 available online, including government services; and
WHEREAS, access to broadband infrastructure is necessary to
					 remedy the United State's current ranking as 15th among industrialized nations
					 for broadband adoption and because of this, the American Recovery and
					 Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) included over $7 billion in federal stimulus
					 funding for broadband development and deployment to unserved and underserved
					 communities throughout the nation; and
WHEREAS, New York State, through the efforts of its Chief
					 Information Officer and other governmental, academic and business leaders, has
					 been engaged in a universal broadband initative which has begun developing a
					 broadband strategy and identifying broadband projects, laying the groundwork
					 for the further development and deployment of broadband around the State, and
					 positioning New York to receive ARRA funding necessary to meet the goal of
					 universal affordable, high-speed and high-capacity broadband for all New
					 Yorkers; and
WHEREAS, expansion of broadband can yield significant
					 economic and quality of life benefits; and
WHEREAS, coordinated State action and public-private
					 partnerships are needed to increase investment in, promote demand for,
					 stimulate adoption of, and remove barriers to the development of universally
					 deployed world-class high-capacity and high-speed broadband networks, providing
					 services to business and residential consumers in all areas of the State at
					 affordable prices; and
WHEREAS, establishment of the New York State Broadband
					 Development and Deployment Council (Council), building on the initiatives and
					 achievements of the New York State Council for Universal Broadband, which it
					 replaces, is necessary to guide the State as it invests ARRA funds, so that all
					 New Yorkers can become full participants in the information age.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, David A. Paterson, Governor of the State
					 of New York, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and
					 Laws of the State of New York do hereby order as follows:
A. Definitions
1. "Broadband" means the transmission of
				  information, between or among points specified by the user, with or without
				  change in the form or content of the information as sent and received, at
				  minimum rates of transmission defined by the Federal Communications Commission
				  as "broadband," or at those synchronous upstream and downstream transmission
				  rates as may be recommended by the Council from time to time.
2. "Broadband infrastructure" means all
				  equipment, facilities, services and programs including all changes,
				  modifications, and expansions to existing facilities, as well as the customer
				  premises equipment used to provide broadband, and any software integral to or
				  related to the operations, support, facilitation, or interconnection of such
				  equipment, including upgrades, and any installation, operations and support,
				  maintenance, training and other functions required to support, maintain and
				  upgrade the delivery of broadband service to citizens and businesses.
3. "Broadband service" means the offering of
				  broadband directly to the public or to such classes of users as to be readily
				  available directlly to the public, regardless of the facilities used with or
				  without a fee.
4. "Distressed area"
				  means:
(a) a census tract or tracts or block
				  numbering area or areas or such census tract or block numbering area contiguous
				  thereto which, according to the most recent census data available, has:
(i) a poverty rate of at least twenty percent
				  for the year to which the data relates or at least twenty people of households
				  receiving public assistance; and
(ii) an unemployment rate of at least one and
				  a quarter times the statewide unemployment rate for the year to which the data
				  relates; or
(b) a city,
				  town, village or county within a city with a population of one million or more
				  for which each of the following are fifty-five per cent or less of the
				  statewide average:
(i) the ratio of the full
				  value property wealth, as determined by the Office of the State Comptroller in
				  the year for which the most recent census data is available, per resident to
				  the statewide average full value property wealth per resident; and
(ii) the ratio of the income per resident; as
				  shown in the year for which the most recent census data is available to the
				  statewide average income per resident.
5. "Underserved area" means any part of a
				  municipality without readily and generally available retail consumer access to
				  at least two or more nonaffiliated facilities-based wired or fixed wireless
				  broadband telecommunications services providers. For purposes of this
				  subdivision, wireless broadband telecommunications services shall not include
				  satellite service.
6. "Unserved
				  area" means any part of a municipality without readily and generally available
				  retail consumer access to a facilities-based wired or fixed wireless broadband
				  telecommunications services provider. For the purposes of this subdivision,
				  wireless broadband telecommunications services shall not include satellite
				  service.
7. "Underserved
				  subscriber" means a retail consumer residing in a dwelling located in an
				  unserved or underserved urban or rural area.