San Francisco Aims to Close the Digital Divide with Citywide Fiber Project

San Francisco (CA) plans to narrow its digital divide with a new network of high-speed fiber connectivity. The city is scheduled to begin the first phase of a three-year buildout in the first quarter of 2020, San Francisco Mayor Mark Farrell said. “We believe this is one of the most important broadband projects in our country today,” said Mayor Farrell, as he reiterated a need to bring affordable high-speed Internet access into every home and business. The service is not expected to cost households more than $60 a month, and for those residents living below the federal poverty line, the service will be free. Internet speeds of at least 1 gigabit is nothing less than a public utility, the mayor said.   “It is shameful that in San Francisco we have more than 100,000 San Francisco residents that still do not have Internet access at home,” he added. The mayor also noted that some 15 percent of public school students lack Internet access at home, and 61 percent of students surveyed said they are not completing homework because they lack Internet access. “It is criminal in many regards. How can we expect the students of San Francisco to learn, with their peers, without Internet access in their house?”