(Ed,'s Note: Many local proponents have advocated for city investment to provide WiFi access to digitally-underserved areas. Brownsville suffers from a digital divide that afflicts many cities across the country. Can we take a page from the Tucson playbook to use existing PUB assets to provide this service even as we approach the beginning of the school year where distance learning requiring internet access is necessary to attend classes?)
By Rogelio Mares
KGUN 9
TUCSON, Ariz. — There are some places in town that suffer from a digital dryness, says City Councilman Steve Kozachik calls it something else.
"There are pockets in the city, right now, that are suffering a digital divide."
They're areas of town that don't have as much of an infrastructure for internet connectivity, that will change after the Council voted to fund a Wi-Fi program for these areas.
"We're covering right around 20 miles, 30-percent of the populated area of the city, about 116,000 people, 53,000 households," said Collin Boyce, Chief Information Officer for the City of Tucson.
The program will provide a free Wi-Fi connection for what the city has identified as parts that are digitally under-served.
Boyce said the hardware for this program will be constructed on existing infrastructure.
"Poles, traffic lights, anything that's considered to be street furniture."
That works for future projects.
"The second piece will then be to expand this out, city-wide," Kozachik said.
The second piece, he said, would be to add smart traffic programs to street lights, that would streamline traffic east to west on busy roads.
"Without the $9 million of Federal 'CARES' money that we have available to us, we probably would not have been able to afford to do this."
The investment is one that will pay off for uses, both Kozachik and Boyce said, like connecting to the already-existing networks at school districts and Pima County facilities.
"If they have fiber, if we're able to come together and collaborate with this, we can make the product even better," Boyce said.
To read rest of story, click on link:
TUCSON, Ariz. — There are some places in town that suffer from a digital dryness, says City Councilman Steve Kozachik calls it something else.
"There are pockets in the city, right now, that are suffering a digital divide."
They're areas of town that don't have as much of an infrastructure for internet connectivity, that will change after the Council voted to fund a Wi-Fi program for these areas.
"We're covering right around 20 miles, 30-percent of the populated area of the city, about 116,000 people, 53,000 households," said Collin Boyce, Chief Information Officer for the City of Tucson.
The program will provide a free Wi-Fi connection for what the city has identified as parts that are digitally under-served.
Boyce said the hardware for this program will be constructed on existing infrastructure.
"Poles, traffic lights, anything that's considered to be street furniture."
That works for future projects.
"The second piece will then be to expand this out, city-wide," Kozachik said.
The second piece, he said, would be to add smart traffic programs to street lights, that would streamline traffic east to west on busy roads.
"Without the $9 million of Federal 'CARES' money that we have available to us, we probably would not have been able to afford to do this."
The investment is one that will pay off for uses, both Kozachik and Boyce said, like connecting to the already-existing networks at school districts and Pima County facilities.
"If they have fiber, if we're able to come together and collaborate with this, we can make the product even better," Boyce said.
To read rest of story, click on link:
6 comments:
You can take a pendejo to water but you will not make him drink unless its flavored.
I can bet all those funds will go to the bike trails... KEEP VOTING FOR ESTOS PENDEJOS
Brownsville has no vision. It is North Matamoros, bro.
In other words, we need more G5 towers and customers to kill more valley people!!! The sickness are coming from those G6 towers and then the deaths are blamed on the corona virus!!!
BISD board thinks that vision is a pair of sun glasses
Tucson uses the care funds
and here? Citizens pockets and don't worry we are only the poorest city in the country where all administrators make 30K A MONTH... . HOW CAN THAT BE?
The G5 towers are owned by the chinese government so take it from there...
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