The executive director of SA Digital Connects joined Leading SA to discuss the problem of the digital divide, some solutions, and what comes next.
– The digital divide is a gap between those who have access to digital technology and those who do not and it has been a problem in and around San Antonio.
There are programs and organizations working to address the problem and help the future of our community, an one of those organizations is SA Digital Connects. SA Digital Connects is a private-public partnership that aims to close the digital divide for local families in need, and their executive director joined Leading SA on Sunday to discuss the problem, some solutions and what comes next.
“Today, 20 percent of residents in San Antonio, in our county faced barriers to accessing the internet. And that could be for a couple of reasons. First off, maybe they don’t have access to infrastructure. You know, if they’re kind of in the unincorporated areas of Bear County, even if they wanted to connect to fiber infrastructure, they can’t. A second really big problem is affordability,” Marina Gavito said. “Lastly is digital literacy.
In terms of combatting the lack affordability aspect of the digital divide, there are public mechanisms in place.“One of the other things that we’re tracking is the Affordable Connectivity Program. Right now, the FCC has the it’s called Affordable Connectivity Program, ACP, and it’s basically a $30 subsidy off of people’s internet bill every single month. And most of the bigger internet service providers like AT&T Spectrum, Google Fiber, offer a $30 a month plan.