Low-income Seattle residents may be able to access broadband Internet for little or no cost under a nationwide pilot program.
As part of President Barack Obama’s ConnectHome initiative announced this week, the City of Seattle outlined its part in bringing broadband internet to low-income Americans. Seattle joins 27 other communities around the country in this pilot program, which extends from the president’s ConnectED project to bring broadband to classrooms and libraries.
“ConnectHome is an important effort in closing the digital equity gap that still exists in our high tech city,” Deputy Mayor Hyeok Kim said in a press release. “Our participation in this initiative is the perfect partnership with our own digital equity initiative and we look forward to learning from and the other ConnectHome Communities and contributing our own expertise, history, and insight.”
As part of the ConnectHome initiative, Seattle will require all new projects funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to be equipped with the appropriate technology to support broadband. Seattle Housing Authority had already committed to those types of improvements in communities such as Yesler Terrace, High Point, Rainier Vista and New Holly.
Communities will also be able to spend portions of their Choice Neighborhood Implementation Grants on upgrading existing infrastructure to handle broadband internet.
Seattle’s low-income residents will continue to have access to CenturyLink’s Internet Basics program for $9.95 per month for the first year and $14.95 for the following four years. Eligible K-12 students living in public housing will be able to use Sprint’s wireless broadband internet.
“We house more than 12 percent of the students in the Seattle Public School system,” said Andrew Lofton, executive director of the Seattle Housing Authority. “For many of these low-income families the cost of home Internet access is prohibitive, which seriously disadvantages students trying to complete homework and parents who need to communicate online with their child’s school. The ConnectHome initiative will give our young people a more equal chance at academic success.”
The Seattle Public Library also recently received a grant from Google to lend Wi-Fi hotspots to anyone with a library card, addressing the gap in internet access across the city. Fifteen percent of Seattle residents don’t have home internet access.
Nationally, the government is partnering with organizations and companies like Google, Sprint and Cox Communications to bring Internet service to communities in Atlanta, Denver, Cleveland and other cities around the country.
As part of the program, Seattle will share data from its efforts with the other communities in the pilot program to improve a wider rollout in the future.
