Board of Supervisors Unanimously Pass Resolution to Demand Internet Corporations to Address Digital Divide

SAN FRANCISCO — Earlier today, the Board of Supervisors unanimously passed Supervisor Preston’s resolution calling on AT&T, Comcast, and Verizon to expand digital access for low-income residents, especially for older adults and persons with disabilities. The resolution helped uplift the demands of Senior and Di sability Action’s Free Wifi campaign calling for the city and big internet services providers to address the 1 in 8 residents that are without high-speed home Internet service.

“Equal access to high-speed internet is absolutely essential for our most vulnerable communities,” said Supervisor Preston, who authored the resolution. “High-speed internet isn’t some kind of luxury in our society, it is a necessity for accessing medical care, communicating with friends and family, applying for jobs, attending work meetings, doing homework assignments, and a broad range of other basic life activities. I am proud to stand with SDA in their Free Wi-Fi campaign, and see our resolution pass unanimously.”

The advocacy campaign has already yielded results, with AT&T expanding its program for discount wifi in 2022, a key demand of the free-wifi campaign.

On March 23 at the Government Audit and Oversight hearing on the resolution, Supervisor Preston and advocates pushed big broadband companies to expand internet access in order to provide more low-income senior and disabled communities with affordable and accessible internet.

The hearing detailed free-Wi-Fi campaign demands, highlighting the current efforts by San Francisco’s biggest providers – Verizon, Comcast, and AT&T, and included a presentation on various City fiber programs, including the Department of Technology and MOHCD’s Fiber to Housing Program. Internet providers were pressed to do more than the bare minimum to address the persistent digital divide and digital redlining in senior and disabled communities in the city.

Among the highlighted issues is the low enrollment in the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). In San Francisco, one-third of households are eligible for ACP while less than 25% of those households are enrolled, partly due to a lack of outreach to existing eligible customers.

“The communities we represent continue to feel the weight of the digital divide, particularly when accessing healthcare, housing, finances, services, education, and social activities,” said Dasom Nah, Senior and Disability Survival School Director. “Without access to high-speed internet connection, high-quality devices, and continuous digital skills and online safety training, many will continue to be left behind, while the world continues to move on from the global pandemic. Supervisor Preston’s resolution shines a bright light on such an urgent need for our communities.”

People with limited English are one of the four groups most impacted by the digital divide in the city, which include seniors, disabled people, and low-income people. The lack of language access in digital equity efforts is ubiquitous–AT&T’s website is still unavailable in Chinese, and digital literacy resources for people in minority language groups are often rare.

ACP enrollment tracker | Broadband for All

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