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It seems that the coronavirus has changed the way most people interact with the internet, so reliable connectivity is more important than ever.
The City of Fort Worth is collaborating with Fort Worth Independent School District (FWISD) to ensure internet access for low- to moderate-income neighborhoods through extending its public Wi-Fi signal.
“It started out during our pandemic emergency response when the city switched much of its service delivery to an online format,” IT solutions director for the City of Fort Worth Kevin Gunn says. “Along with that, we received an allocation of CARES Act funding and created some programs to support families and businesses in Fort Worth weather the impact of COVID-19. We found that a lot of the targeted population didn’t have at-home internet access, so we started looking into it.”
The city and FWISD are adopting different yet complementary approaches. Where the city is extending the Wi-Fi signal from city buildings, such as community centers and libraries, into the nearby neighborhoods of Ash, Crescent, Como, North Side, Rosemont, and Stop Six, FWISD is erecting towers to build off of the existing system and offer reliable and robust Wi-Fi to students residing in historically underserved communities.
“Where the city’s plan is broad, ours is deep,” Fort Worth ISD superintendent Kent P. Scribner says. “They are wisely using their assets to build a ‘Fluidmesh Wi-Fi network,’ while we are focusing on targeted households.”
FWISD’s plan is divided across two phases, with the first phase, which is anticipated to be complete before the first day of school on Aug. 16, servicing Morningside, Eastern Hills, Rosemont, and Stop Six school neighborhoods — 25% of the district's targeted households –— and the second phase, which is scheduled to start in December, providing Wi-Fi to the ZIP codes, 76102, 76103, 76104, 76105, 76115, 76119, and 76164.
“85% of our student population lives at or below the federal poverty line,” Scribner says. “We selected some of the communities whose poverty rate was even higher than that.”
The installation of FWISD’s Wi-Fi towers will provide a signal that will allow three to four students to use multiple devices simultaneously within targeted homes, whereas an individual may only connect with fewer devices by the city’s plan based on breadth.
For the city’s approach, targeted neighborhoods were identified through the area’s Neighborhood Improvement Program, which aims to concentrate improvements where they’re needed most through examining metrics, such as household income, poverty, crime rates, and internet subscription rates. Though the city would like to improve Wi-Fi access across Fort Worth, expansion into additional neighborhoods is not planned at this time.
“The goal is to help families get access to social services they need so that they can have a better quality of life,” Gunn says.
An estimated 60,000 Fort Worth residents lack home internet access, making it difficult to attend online classes, apply for jobs, or tap into other social service resources. The extension will enable such residents to connect to the internet at home for free by accessing the signal on their electronic devices.
“We are very excited about this program,” Gunn says. “The undertaking of this project has been sorely needed for a long time, and we are excited to roll it out to the people who need it most."
