While public housing authorities have long known that digital access is critical to improve life outcomes for low-income individuals and families, recent increases in federal resources dedicated to broadband access are creating new awareness about its untapped potential.
From Starry's press release:
From Starry, Inc.'s press release:
From SmartCitiesWorld:
Boston is investing more than $12m to bring digital equity and inclusion to nearly 23,000 Boston public housing residents, library users, and school-age families.
The new funding will provide free access to wireless broadband service and devices to help public housing seniors and residents get online and will also provide Chromebook laptops to Boston Public School (BPS) students.
From the Boston Globe:
Boston wireless Internet service provider Starry struck a deal with the Cambridge Housing Authority to offer broadband connections to thousands of apartments in the city.
Under the deal announced on Thursday, Starry will provide $15-per-month Internet service to residents of more than 2,630 units. But the residents won’t have to pay even that price, as the cost of the service is eligible to be covered entirely by the federal government’s Affordable Connectivity Program.
In November 2020, the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities (CLPHA) was awarded a grant from the Center for Disaster Philanthropy to help our public housing authority (PHA) members better protect and serve vulnerable populations during the COVID-19 pandemic.