A year after the demise of its “smart city” plan, New Orleans has landed a $370,000 federal grant to spread the word about federal subsidies that can make high-speed internet free for low-income households.
That grant, which the city received last month, will help support employees of the nonprofit Resilience Force as they spread the word about the federal benefit and sign up residents, according to city officials.
Kimberly LaGrue, the city’s chief information officer, said officials hope that the outreach effort will bring more of the estimated 26.6% of residents who lack broadband service online.
No-cost broadband
Both of the city’s major land-based broadband providers, Cox and AT&T, offer no-cost broadband via the federal program’s $30 monthly subsidy. Yet New Orleans has only 32,500 subscribers for what’s known as the Affordable Connectivity Program, despite an estimated 85,000 households being eligible for federal assistance.
National organizations have pointed to a lack of awareness about the program and difficulty in completing the sign-up as barriers to access. In response, some cities and nonprofits have created digital “ambassador” programs.
The Federal Communications Commission last month awarded New Orleans and other locations across the country $66 million in outreach grants funded by President Joe Biden’s 2021 infrastructure law.
In addition to an advertising campaign, Resilience Force staffers will be present at the library’s digital literacy classes and public events like festivals to help spread the word, according to Zach Monroe, external affairs manager for the city’s Office of Resilience and Sustainability.
The grant-funded project comes on the heels of a much more ambitious project to expand broadband internet access through a multi-million “smart city” collaboration with a consortium of companies led by Qualcomm.
The city and Qualcomm pulled the plug on that proposal in April 2022 amid bid-rigging accusations and questions about whether it would really expand access.
Residents interested in learning more and signing up for the federal program may visit https://www.fcc.gov/acp.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Matt Sledge
Quelle/Source: nola, 07.04.2023
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