Telecom companies have won a last-minute injunction against New York’s Affordable Broadband Act, putting the law’s future in jeopardy.
Governor Cuomo signed the Affordable Broadband Act in April, with it slated to go into effect next week. New York’s Eastern District Judge Dennis R. Hurley has sided with the telecom industry, acknowledging the law could cause “irreparable harm if the injunction is not granted.”
When Cuomo signed the law in April, former Alphabet CEO Eric Schmidt was present, lending his support. The law has been opposed from the very beginning, however, by some of the biggest names in the telecom industry, including Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T.
It remains to be seen if the law will survive the current challenge but, so far, it’s not looking good. Judge Hurley seemed especially concerned with the impact that law would have on smaller companies.
“While a telecommunications giant like Verizon may be able to absorb such a loss, others may not: the Champlain Telephone Company, for example, ‘estimates that nearly half [approximately 48%] of [its] existing broadband customers will qualify for discounted rates,” with each such customer ‘caus[ing] a monetary loss.’”