Supervisor Mitchell Releases Priority Areas for Community Broadband Network in LA County's 2nd District, Hosts Laptop Giveaway

Supervisor Holly Mitchell released a map of priority locations where Los Angeles County will build low-cost internet for households in the Second District. Supervisor Mitchell made the announcement in conjunction with the Los Angeles County Internal Services Department (ISD), which is Los Angeles County’s lead on digital equity, during a free laptop giveaway event at the Willowbrook Library. ISD handed out 700 laptops across Los Angeles, all of which are enabled with a full year of IT support. The Community Broadband Network (CBN) pilot will deliver free broadband services to low-income County residents. ISD will work with a pool of pre-qualified service providers to deploy and operate broadband networks in communities impacted by the digital divide. The pilot area in the Second District which includes neighborhoods along the 110 corridor south of the 10 freeway, including Willowbrook, Westmont, West Athens, Florence Firestone, and South Los Angeles. In September 2022, the LA County Board of Supervisors approved a total of $56 million to help connect families to fast and reliable internet. Construction for the Community Broadband Network will begin in early 2023. The pilot area covers areas where more than 20 percent of households lack home internet. The goal of the program is to provide internet at low- and no-cost that is fast and reliable, where multiple members of a household can be streaming at the same time. Service providers are also required to provide multi-lingual community engagement programs and advertising.