City council approves resolution for public internet access
The city passed a resolution on Sept. 9 declaring high-speed internet a public necessity. Richmond residents can soon take advantage of high-speed internet in their homes, educational facilities and businesses. Photo by Kyle Lesko.
Molly Manning, Contributing Writer
Richmond City Council voted for a resolution to solidify high-speed internet access for citizens as a public necessity in homes, educational facilities and businesses on Sept. 9th.
City Council member and mayoral candidate Andreas Addison proposed the plan, which will not only declare internet access a public necessity in homes, educational and training facilities but also implement a “Digital Equity Assessment and Plan” to provide that access to citizens, according to ABC 8News.
The FCC defines high-speed internet as having a minimum download speed of 100 megabits per second and upload speed of 20 Mbps.
The resolution document noted “the Council believes that the COVID-19 pandemic exposed societal inequities in access to high-speed gigabit internet in parts of the City.”
The Commonwealth Times reached out to council member Addison via phone and email but did not receive a response.
The resolution also includes details about how the “Digital Equity Assessment and Plan” would work to implement and improve high-speed gigabit internet access throughout the city.
Other cities like Amarillo, Texas, have implemented similar plans to provide internet access to their communities. Addison referenced in his proposal a desire to do the same in Richmond, according to ABC 8News.
The local government partnered with AT&T to provide broadband internet access to over 22,000 places in Amarillo, including connections in homes and Wi-Fi in public places, according to the Texas Tribune.
While the city contributed $2 million of its federal American Rescue Plan Act funds, AT&T provided the other $24 million for the project, according to the Texas Tribune.
Bean Layne, a second-year English and environmental studies student, said many public places in the city don’t offer free internet access.
“A lot of public spaces do not have free wifi that you can access, so hotspots seem to be something that you kind of have to have if you want to access the internet a lot of places, outside of your phone, and having data is really important,” Layne said.
Layne said she has issues accessing VCU domains and has to use guest networks because her computer is routed to a different network.
Layne said she feels internet access being a public good should be prioritized.
“In the modern day, if we’re going to make everything happen on the internet, if we’re going to create a digital society, I think it’s very important that we actually make that digital society accessible,” Layne said.
VCU PR representative Brian McNeill stated in an email that he didn’t feel the resolution would directly impact VCU in any way.
VCU has a page dedicated to home internet access, which states that “it is imperative that ALL currently-enrolled students maintain a reliable, fast home internet connection.”
The page also includes information about the FCC’s Affordable Connectivity Program, even though this program ended on June 1 due to a lack of funding.
Hazel Stone, a second-year philosophy student, said because almost everything is online now, it’s important that everyone has equal access to the internet.
“Everything is being shifted, schools, job applications, communications with people, everything is being shifted to the internet so unless you can provide that as a public access you’re shutting off a large group of people from society,” Stone said.
