A Richmond City Council proposal could be the first step to citywide WiFi
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Richmond City Council will consider whether to declare equal access to high-speed internet a "public necessity" for all Richmond residents next month.
Why it matters: The end goal is to eventually have citywide WiFi.
How it works: The resolution calls for chief administrative officer Lincoln Saunders to assess what the internet access gaps look like in Richmond and create a plan for how the city can help close them.
- That includes identifying partnerships, potentially with internet providers like AT&T — which Amarillo, Texas, did in 2022.
- And it could set a vision for how to first ensure connectivity along bus routes or in lower-income neighborhoods, which nationally, have had slower internet speeds than more affluent areas.
First District City Council Member Andreas Addison, who is sponsoring the resolution, tells Axios he hopes the plan leads to conversations about how internet access affects access to city services.
- "With so many functions of today's society being moved to virtual and online, if we know there are populations that are in our city right now that don't have that ability, then we're not doing our job."
Yes, but: Even if City Council passes the resolution, which isn't expected to face pushback, it doesn't guarantee what the resolution is proposing will get done.
- Resolutions requesting similar plans, led by Addison and 5th District Council Member Stephanie Lynch, passed in September 2021.
- They were prompted by the pandemic showing how some RPS students didn't have reliable internet access during remote schooling.
- City Council members haven't received updates about what those plans look like nearly three years later, Addison tells Axios.
By the numbers: About 75% of Richmond households — around 79,000 — have broadband like cable, fiber optic or DSL, according to 2022 census data estimates.
- Over 10%, or nearly 11,000 people, use their cellular data plan as their only form of broadband and have no other internet subscriptions.
- 13%, or roughly 14,000, don't have any internet subscription at all.
Threat level: The National Institutes of Health in a 2022 report found that U.S. counties with greater percentages of "digitally excluded populations" saw higher COVID case and death rates.
- One reason was that unequal internet access meant delayed public health information.
- Another was that most of the pandemic response regarding testing and vaccinations relied on the internet.
What's next: City Council will vote on the resolution in the Sept. 9 meeting.