Google implements free Internet for low-income Kansas City residents
Last summer, leading technology company Google made a pledge to provide free high-speed Internet for low-income households across the United States. The first step for fulfilling this promise was met on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2016, when 100 homes in Kansas were outfitted for high-speed service. The move arose from a larger initiative put forth by the Obama administration, called ConnectHome. The purpose of ConnectHome is to allow approximately 275,000 low-income households access to high-speed Internet, through a collect on of providers willing to ignore the costs and fees.
Kansas City’s West Bluff townhomes were the first to benefit from the new initiative, as the public housing complexes were provided with Google’s Fiber service at no cost. Residents are now connected to the Google Fiber network without having to worry about the set-up fees or operating costs that are usually associated with the package.
Google Fiber is one of the most intricate service providers in the country, with an average download speed of 1,000 Mbps—compared to the average download speed for most providers of 12 Mbps. As Google moves forward, up to 1,300 households in Kansas City will benefit from having access to Google Fiber through the ConnectHome initiative.
It is estimated that Google will be donating over $1 million of free Internet through ConnectHome. The only drawback about Google Fiber is that, at this point, only three cities in the U.S. are equipped with the service.
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Cities selected for Google Fiber equipment were notified in 2011. Kansas City was the first city to host Google Fiber, while Austin, Texas and Provo, Utah were announced in 2013. Stanford University acted as the test site for the service, while a laundry list of potential fiber candidates have yet to be chosen for Google’s incredibly fast Internet service.
Through the ConnectHome initiative, new Internet users will not only be provided with high-speed Internet service, but digital literacy courses as well. The rationale is that individuals who have less experience with the World Wide Web will be able to get online faster, and browse the Internet more safely.
The United States is viewed as one of the most powerful countries in the world, but it has received criticism over its Internet policy, especially in regards to the availability for its residents.
In a Feb. 3, 2016 blog post, Google Fiber Vice President Dennis Kish explained that, “the U.S. has some of the most expensive broadband in the world, while lagging far behind other countries in Internet speeds and, for families in affordable housing, cost can be one of the biggest barriers to getting online.”
As the ConnectHome initiative moves forward, there will be less of a financial barrier for residents looking to get connected to the modern world.