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Buildings at five of the poorest New York City Housing Authority complexes will start being wired for the high-speed connection this fall, officials told The Associated Press ahead of Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio's public announcement, scheduled for Thursday.
The city will spend $10 million to deliver the Internet to residents of the Mott Haven Houses in the Bronx, the poorest area in the city; the Red Hook East and Red Hook West Houses in Brooklyn; and the Queensbridge North and Queensbridge South Houses in Queens. The Queensbridge Houses, the largest development in the nation, will be the first to receive the program.
City officials have said they want to change the perception that access to high-speed Internet is a luxury rather than a utility.
"Broadband is as important today as access to electricity and running water was at the end of the 19th century," said Maya Wiley, counsel to the mayor. "It's about equity. Without Internet, you are at a disadvantage, whether it is doing your homework or accessing government services."
The city will pay a vendor, which has yet to be determined, to provide the Internet access for three years, at which point the program will be evaluated. Wiley said that more Housing Authority developments would soon become part of the program but there was not currently a timetable or enough funding to wire the whole system, which houses more than 400,000 people, about the population Miami.
De Blasio has said that through a variety of projects, including payphones being converted into wireless Internet transmitters, he wants all New Yorkers to have access to affordable broadband by 2025.
Original Submission
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 17 2015, @04:29PM
AT&T just spent the past 3 days digging up my front yard. I think they are finally starting to realize they need to put in fiber. This is not exactly some 'big city' either. They actually did a pretty nice job of it too. Though they did kill some grass :(
The down side is the price. 120 intro...
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Friday July 17 2015, @04:55PM
They didn't kill any puppies, did they? Or kittens? Just some grass, I can probably go along with.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 17 2015, @06:50PM
Well the website says 'not available in your area'. Considering they put the box in my yard I would SAY I probably can get it...
Looks like the data cap is 1TB.
Even if I do not get it. It at least adds a bunch of value to my house. As apparently data connections are now a selling point...
(Score: 1) by Francis on Friday July 17 2015, @07:18PM
Same basic Deal here, once the box is in, it has to be connected. They're probably not done rolling it out. I'm really looking forward to fiber service here.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 17 2015, @08:02PM
Yeah, I hope that is it. As when they put DSL in they never bothered to mark my house as available for it. The box is right across the street... Though the pricing looks to be a bit steep at 70-150 a month depending on where you are at. So it looks like they are pricing it at levels I am rather 'meh' about.