9.19.22 - NYC to offer free broadband at hundreds of NYCHA developments
' The city will offer free high-speed internet and cable TV to residents at more than 200 public housing complexes by the end of next year, Mayor Eric Adams announced Monday.
“Internet isn’t a luxury. It’s a necessity, just like electricity and gas,” Adams said at a press conference at the Langston Hughes Houses in Brownsville, Brooklyn. “For far too long, NYCHA residents have been disconnected while the rest of the city has been connected… Today, we want to bridge the digital divide.”
The free broadband program will be available to 300,000 people living in the NYCHA developments.
Key context: An estimated 30 to 40 percent of NYCHA residents do not have broadband access at home.
The divide was especially stark in the first years of the Covid-19 pandemic, when schools went remote and children without internet at home struggled to participate.
Details: Free internet was previously available at eight NYCHA projects as part of a pilot program and expanded to 100 on Monday.
The city struck deals with Altice (Optimum) and Charter (Spectrum) to buy the service. It will cost the city $30 a month for each household that enrolls.
Under former Mayor Bill de Blasio, the city tried to contract with smaller, woman or minority owned service providers to offer free broadband. But the Adams administration abandoned that approach and turned to major providers because it was too slow, with only a handful of developments up and running.
“In government, oftentimes we try to find the most perfect, most ideal solution,” said Chief Technology Officer Matthew Fraser. “You forget that there are people who are actually hurting… What’s the cost of inaction? How many people actually get left behind?”
People who sign up for the program will also be able to access a separate federal program to get a $30 a month discount on their cell phone bills. '
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