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The city of Hartford, Conn. has been allocated a million dollars to deploy a pilot program that will test a wireless network which will provide free Internet access to inner-city homes. The money will also pay for hundreds of refurbished wireless devices which will be sold to lower-income families for $150. The network will be set up with the help of IBM (News - Alert).
With the new network in place, 5,000 homes and more than 75,000 people in downtown Hartford, as well as in the Blue Hills area will have free unlimited access to the Internet through March, as part of the initial pilot rollout. Users will only have to pay a fee if they exceed 20 hours of usage a month. City residents will also be able to sign up for unlimited access plans available for only $12 to $17 monthly.
Hartford City Mayor Eddie Perez had promised free WiFi (News - Alert) access to residents citywide in his state of the city address back in March. "Our goal is to provide this free access to all of our citizens within the next two years as well as provide low-cost computer equipment and basic computer courses, said Perez in his speech."Gaining these high-tech skills is just one way we must prepare our young people with a solid educational foundation so that they can compete for the jobs of the 21st Century."
Despite Hartford being ahead in technology with insurance and financial companies stationed in the city, less than a third of residents in the area don't have a computer at home or access to the Internet. This is a disadvantage for residents looking for jobs available in the city which require high-tech computer skills.
The WiFi-ready computers will be available to the residents of the Blue Hills and downtown neighborhoods who attend training classes. The WiFi coverage area, number of training classes and number of low-cost computers will be increased as the pilot's funding increases and moves into other neighborhoods in the city.
Residents interested in obtaining the access only need to log in starting today until February 1, 2007. Starting February 2, 2007, Hartford households will receive a block of free wireless broadband time each month and the lower cost unlimited access.
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Johanne Torres is contributing editor for TMCnet and INTERNET TELEPHONY magazine. To see more articles by Johanne Torres, please visit her columnist page.
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