It can be difficult to navigate life in Los Angeles without a smartphone or access to a strong Wi-Fi connection, especially since the pandemic deepened our reliance on technology. Yet thousands of Angelenos remain disconnected from the digital world, making it challenging to access social services, apply for jobs and schedule medical appointments.
If you're enjoying this article, you'll love our daily morning newsletter, How To LA. Every weekday, you'll get fresh, community-driven stories that catch you up with our independent local news.The city of Long Beach wants to get more people online by offering free Wi-Fi in more than 100 publicly-owned spaces.
In other words, the city wants to offset some of its investment by charging internet companies a fee to plug into its fiber network in places where they don’t already have infrastructure. Officials hope that will encourage private companies to bring service to people’s homes at a more reasonable price since they would have saved on earlier construction costs.
“Signing up for Medicare, renewing your car registration via the DMV… all of these things have gone digital and people are being left behind by that,” said Estefania Zavala, the city’s digital equity and economic inclusion officer. In 2020, the city opened a hotline to connect residents to low-cost internet plans and digital skills training. It has a team of “digital inclusion navigators” who direct people to free and low-cost internet services, computers and more.to help residents find free public Wi-Fi and other library resources, as well as free digital skills training, job resources and E-waste removal. The guide is available in four languages: English and Spanish, Tagalog and Khmer.
Free Wi-Fi Digital Divide Public Places Internet Access Telecom Giants Fiber-Optic Network Digital Inclusion Broadband Market Internet Bills Digital Transformation Digital Skills Training
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