Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said the city is making a "down payment" of $35 million to improve internet access in the city.
The money will come from the $641 million Baltimore is getting under the American Rescue Plan Act, a $1.9 trillion bill that Congress passed in March in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking at a press conference in front of a West Baltimore recreational center, Scott said the $35 million is part of a plan to close the city's "digital divide" by 2030.
"This is just the beginning. We have to prepare Baltimore for the future," Scott said. "We will pave the way on digital equity for cities around the country."
Scott was joined by Jason Hardebeck, the city's director of broadband digital equity, a position created by Scott's administration. Hardebeck said nearly 100,000 Baltimore residents lack access to reliable internet.
The Baltimore Business Journal explored how access to the internet only widened during the pandemic as the demand for Wi-Fi became a household necessity for work and school. Read the entire series here.
Hardebeck and Scott called internet access a necessity for the city, comparing it to clean water and roads. They said the pandemic showed how important reliable internet is — whether it's used for school, work, telemedicine, maintaining social ties, ordering groceries and more.
Scott said there are already plans to spend $6 million:
- Installing at least 100 free wifi hotspots across 10 West Baltimore neighborhoods;
- Getting city fiber to 23 recreational centers in Baltimore currently without internet access, so residents can access the web both inside and outside the buildings;
- Staffing up several positions within the city related to internet access.
Plans for the remaining $29 million will be announced in January, Scott said. The new hotspots won't be installed overnight, Scott said, and it could take several months or longer before they're all in place.
Scott said residents can learn more about the city's plans to improve internet access and achieve digital equity by visiting www.bde.baltimorecity.gov.
Tuesday's announcement is a second opportunity for Hardebeck to tackle the city's internet issues.
Hardebeck, a cofounder of a Baltimore makerspace called The Foundery, was previously part of a different city effort to improve internet access. He served as broadband coordinator under former Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, but told the BBJ earlier this year that he lacked power and resources to do much.
In March, Scott hired Hardebeck as the city’s first-ever director of broadband and digital equity.
Speaking at Tuesday's press conference, Hardebeck said the city hopes to have public wifi available throughout the city at parks, bus stops and markets, which would allow residents to access services without using up all of their cellular data.
"Broadband access has become too important in our daily lives to continue to take a hands-off approach and place all of our trust in the notion that market forces will somehow solve this," Hardebeck said. "History has shown that a laissez-faire approach perpetuates and often deepens structural inequities. And it is the proper role of government to ensure that all citizens have equal access to the basics necessary to thrive in modern civil society."
