►
Description
Dockets #0890 - Hearing to discuss internet access and digital equity in the City of Boston
A
A
B
C
C
A
F
C
G
B
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
If
you
are
unable
to
provide
testimony
today,
you
may
submit
written
testimony
or
a
two-minute
video
for
our
record
by
emailing
the
committee
at
ccc.cns
at
boston.gov
or
filling
out
the
form
on
our
website
within
48
hours.
Following
the
hearing,
I
will
first
let
the
sponsors
of
the
hearing
offer
brief
remarks
then
hand
it
over
to
the
panelists.
A
C
Sure,
seeing
that
I
am
one
of
your
co-sponsor,
I
would
love
to
counselor
flynn.
Thank
you
so
much
for
bringing
us
together
and
for
leading
this
initiative
in
regards
to
internet
access
and
I'm
proud
to
join
you
and
counselor
flaherty
on
this
hearing
order.
We
are
really
excited
because
in
our
office,
this
really
sets
the
the
core
values
of
who
we
are
and
why
we
even
exist,
namely
around
civic
engagement
and
civil
rights.
C
So
much
is
changing
when
it
comes
to
how
we
use
technology
with
education
and
social
and
socialization
being
pushed
online
because
of
cove
at
19.
The
inequity
of
our
digital
divide,
especially
as
it
relates
to
black
and
brown
communities,
has
been
getting
worse,
while
bps
reported
that
only
five
percent
lacked
access
to
the
internet.
Let's
be
clear
that
five
percent
is
still
over
2
700
young
people
who
are
sitting
at
home
right
now
with
no
access
to
the
internet,
and
one
is
too
many,
and
this
is
the
issue
for
me.
C
C
We
have
an
opportunity
to
reimagine
how
we
engage
communities-
it's
perhaps
one
of
the
only
highlights
of
the
colbit
pandemic,
but
we
need
to
do
so
in
ways
that
undo
the
barriers
set
in
place
for
decades
of
systemic
inequities,
and
I
look
forward
to
hearing
this
and
to
the
action
items
that
will
come
from
it.
You
know
we've
heard
from
so
many
parents
across
the
city
of
boston
are
now
working
from
home,
while
their
children
are
also
learning
from
home,
and
this
is
creating
additional
barriers
in
terms
of
access.
C
A
I
Yes,
thank
you
chairman
and
co-sponsor
council
flynn
for
hosting
this
hearing,
as
well
as
to
my
colleague
councillor
here
as
well
for
co-sponsoring
this
hearing
with
me
and
as
you
and
councilman
have
just
mentioned.
Access
to
quality
internet
service
into
technology
is
critically
important
during
this
time,
not
only
to
our
schools
that
are
online
at
the
moment,
but
to
many
opportunities
that
exist
for
employment,
higher
education
and
civic
engagement
are
all
online
as
well.
I
So
I'm
interested
in
hearing
more
about
the
work
of
the
digital
equity
fund
and
what
our
city
partners
are
working
on
as
well.
We
also
want
to
hear
from
from
other
panelists
about
what
they've
learned
from
their
work
and
other
best
practices
in
in
other
cities
and
towns,
and
and
hopefully
we
can
bring
it
to
boston
if
it
doesn't
already
exist.
So
we
got
obviously
an
esteemed
list
of
panelists
and
they
know
this
stuff
better
than
anybody.
I
J
Thank
you,
councillor
flynn.
I
really
welcome
this
hearing,
because
internet
access
is
the
equivalent
of
access
to
electricity
a
hundred
years
ago.
It
is
such
a
determinant
of
our
ability
to
access
education
in
this
moment,
but
also
it
is
a
necessary
infrastructure
for
small
businesses
to
do
their
business
online.
J
It
is
a
necessary
infrastructure
to
help
adult
learning
and
all
sorts
of
other
applications,
and
it
really
is
important
that
all
of
our
communities
across
the
city
have
access
to
internet,
just
just
as
we
would
expect
them
to
have
access
to
electricity.
Access
to
broadband
internet
is
essential
to
modern
life
in
the
city
of
boston.
So
I
welcome
this
hearing
and
I
look
forward
to
hearing
the
presentations.
Thank
you.
G
Thank
you,
mr
chair,
and
thank
you
to
everyone
who's
here
today,
a
special
thanks,
obviously
to
the
makers
for
bringing
this
before
us.
I
just
want
to
echo
the
sort
of
sentiments
and
interests
of
my
colleagues
and
for
the
interest
of
time
and
to
get
to
it,
because
we've
got
a
lot
of
good
participants
here
today.
I'm
going
to
end
my
remarks
there.
Thank
you,
mr
chair.
H
Thank
you,
councillor
flynn.
I
too
will
just
echo
everyone
and
say
this
is
such
an
important
issue.
I
really
agree
with
counselor
braden
that
it's
a
it's
a
core
utility
and
I
regret
the
fact
that
I
think
our
our
federal
laws
and
just
the
whole
way
we
approach
this
infrastructure
hasn't
caught
up
with
that.
H
Yet
so
I
think
the
more
that
we
as
a
city
of
boston,
can
be
extending
the
type
of
things
we've
been
doing
with
fiber
and
municipal
buildings,
with
wicked
free
wi-fi
to
to
really
think
about
this,
as
as
essential
for
all
of
our
residents
and
as
a
and
as
something
that
creates
so
much
value
right.
Whenever
you
give
people
access
to
information
to
online
community,
I
mean
you're,
just
you're
you're,
creating
the
conditions
for
a
world
that
you
can't
even
imagine
that
they
then
have
the
ability
to
bring
into
being.
H
So
I
just
I
think,
equity
on
this
front
is
essential
and,
like
many
people
are
very
concerned
about
the
way
that
the
inequity
across
our
city
is
impacting
our
bps
students
right
now,
but
I
think
really
impacting
everyone
also
from
a
work
from
home
side,
and
so
really
I
grateful
to
the
maker
for
this
urgent
hearing.
Thank
you,
mr
chairman.
K
You
might
have
said
me,
but
I
wasn't
sure
I
just
want
to
echo
everything.
That's
been
said.
Our
digital
infrastructure
is
just
as
important
an
investment
right
now
as
any
other
bit
of
infrastructure
to
be
plugged
in
for
economic
and
educational
and
civic
and
social
purposes,
as
as
said
before,
so
we're
living
this
daily.
I'm
really
grateful
to
the
sponsors
for
making
sure
this
is
a
priority
in
the
council's
conversation.
Thank
you.
A
The
updated
piano
list
I
have
on
the
administration's
side
will
be
david
elge
chief
information
officer,
dewitt
alex
lawrence
chief
of
staff
dewett
mike
lynch
broadband
in
cable,
director,
ed
dewitt,
glenn
williams,
who's,
the
general
manager
of
boston,
neighborhood,
network
media
and
dan
noyes
from
tech
goes
home,
I'm
not
sure.
If
deanna's
on
here,
okay,
hi
dan,
I
see
you
so.
C
A
No,
no,
you
didn't
miss
them,
they're
going
to
be
on
the
the
second
piano.
So
the
community
advocates
on
the
second
piano
will
be
keem
jackson,
senior
director
of
family
engagement
and
p.m.
Edinger
who's,
the
president
of
bunker
hill,
community
college,
lorena
lopez,
executive,
director
of
massachusetts,
latinos
for
education
and
deborah
bacchus
executive
director
castle
school
head,
tenants,
organization
and
out
of
out
of
the
south
end
we're
also
taking
public
testimony
as
well.
A
F
This
is
very
important
work
and
obviously
the
code,
the
covet
19
pandemic,
has
really
kind
of
pushed
that
onto
the
forefront
and
as
cities
around
the
country
really
struggle
with
not
only
technology
but
access
and
then
the
digital
skills
to
use
both
technology
and
the
access,
and
I
agree
it's
very
much
like
the
utility,
as
as
we
start
to
go
into
our
new
reality
of
of
how
we
work
and
how
we
socialize
and
and
and
how
we
live
our
lives.
So
this
is.
F
This
is
very
important
work
and
I'd
like
to
highlight-
and
I
believe
that
it
was
mentioned
earlier-
the
the
good
work
that
we're
doing
here
in
the
city
of
boston,
there's
always
more
to
do.
Unfortunately,
some
of
our
federal
partners,
down
in
dc
have
not
quite
stepped
up
to
to
the
challenge
that
a
lot
of
municipal
governments
are
dealing
with
right
now,
so
I
mean
at
this
point
I
could
head
it
over
to
mike
lynch
who's
really
kind
of
running
point
for
do
it
on
on
this
work.
F
E
E
There
we
go,
I
apologize.
This
is
just
really
a
highlight.
I
I
think
it
didn't
escape
our
notice
and
do
it
that
virtually
every
city
councilor
has
signed
on
to
this
order.
So
we
are
preaching
a
little
bit
to
the
converted,
and
I
heard
one
of
the
counselors
mentioned
how
the
internet
is
really
something
that
we
all
must
have,
and
it
reminded
me
of
the
last
slide
of
my
deck
here,
where
the
former
federal
communications
chair
tom
wheeler
noted
just
recently
that
the
internet
is
no
longer
nice
to
have.
E
It
is
critical.
What
chairman
wheeler
did
not
say
is
that,
as
a
former
head
of
the
wireless
association
and
the
telecom
association
and
the
fcc,
he
had
many
opportunities
to
make
this
sort
of
a
utility
or
something
that
everybody
had
a
right
to.
Unfortunately,
that
federal
partnership
that
that
support
from
the
fcc
has
never
come
forward,
and
it's
left
to
cities
and
towns
like
boston
to
solve
these
problems.
Now
I
think
everyone
in
the
counselor
is
very
familiar
with
what
has
happened
to
date
in
the
work
that
we
have
done
with
your
support.
E
We
have
many
things
now
that
we're
in
the
middle
of
I
mentioned
just
a
few
of
them
here
as
highlights,
I
won't
really
go
through
them
a
little
bit
on
the
on
the
workers.
However,
a
lot
of
skills
training
was
required
on
the
front
end
here
to
make
sure
that
everybody
was
able
to
do
their
job
remotely
and
effectively
during
covet.
It
was
very
challenging
everyone
jumped
in
with
both
feet.
E
It
was
really
impressive
to
see
I've
heard
the
counselors
already
note
this,
and
I
don't
want
to
have
to
reiterate
if
we
can
save
some
time,
but
there
has
been
a
tremendous
investment
in
the
city
targeting
people
who
are
not
served
and
who
lack
connectivity.
These
are
just
some
of
the
highlights
here.
E
I
noticed
in
the
order
there
was
some
discussion
of
our
providers.
I've
shared
this
slide
with
some
other
people,
and
it's
true,
I
kind
of
hate
to
say
it
publicly,
but
comcast
rcn
and
verizon
have
been
doing
a
great
job.
We
don't
like
to
advertise
that
fact.
We
always
like
to
tell
them
they
can
do
more,
but
we
in
boston
are
very
fortunate
to
have
three
cable-based
broadband
providers
in
an
additional
three
major
wireless
providers
who
can
provide
connectivity
to
pretty
much
every
street
in
the
city
that
doesn't
mean
that
every
home
is
connected.
E
This
is
just
a
highlight
of
the
unique
deliveries
from
some
of
our
partners.
I
understand
that
comcast
has
provided
a
fact
sheet
if
you
will
with
much
of
their
contribution
this
morning,
I'll
leave
it
to
the
council
as
to
review.
That
rcn
is
a
smaller
company
similar
to
comcast
than
they
have
during
this
pandemic
endeavoured
to
match
contributions
by
the
other
parties.
E
I'd
like
to
throw
this
up,
this
comes
from
the
national
digital
inclusion
association.
It
is
a
definition
of
digital
equity.
It's
nice
to
know
that
we
all
have
the
the
same
view.
I
think
I
heard
one
of
the
counselors
in
the
introductory
remarks
talk
about
a
second
issue,
which
is
digital
inclusion.
That
also
includes
something
called.
I
guess
I
guess
you'd
refer
to
it
as
a
generic
help
desk
for
people
who
need
support
and
a
helping
hand
as
we
go
through
this
during
covert.
E
We
have
found
that
to
be
critical
because,
prior
to
last
spring,
we
in
the
city
were
able
to
provide
courses
and
trainings
to
either
tech
goes
home
or
the
timothy
smith
network,
both
city-funded
organizations
and
folks
were
able
to
go
to
a
workshop
share
notes.
Comparisons
get
a
guiding
hand
on
what
they
were
doing
in
a
covert
world.
That's
no
longer
possible.
You
really
don't
have
that
one-on-one
connection,
so
it
makes
delivery
of
training
and
education
that
much
more
challenging.
E
E
I
particularly
like
age
strong
because
they
try
to
sort
of
go,
go
beyond
what
is
your
immediate
challenge
and
identify
what
other
challenges
I
think
most
of
the
counselors
know.
As
you
talk
to
your
constituents,
the
lack
of
connectivity
that
people
have,
they
actually
have
a
hard
time
identifying.
What
the
problem
is,
because
it's
a
complicated
world
and
it's
our
job
to
make
it
easier
for
them.
E
I'd
like
to
show
this
slide,
because
if
you
look
at
that
national
number,
one
third
of
adults
never
use
the
internet
that
didn't
seem
surprising
prior
to
covert
pandemic,
but
as
as
we
see
now,
everyone
should
be
and
if
they
aren't
they're
missing,
if
they're
missing
the
one
avenue
of
social
sort
of
interaction
that
they
desperately
need.
So
it's
the
isolated
seniors
are
certainly
a
big
target
for
age
strong
and
for
the
boston
housing
authority.
E
Prior
to
this
spring,
the
concept
of
a
city
like
boston,
providing
services
to
residents
at
home
in
order
for
them
to
connect
to
other
services
that
we
provide
was
something
of
a
foreign
and
unknown
concept.
There
was
no
mechanism
for
a
city
government,
a
county
government
or
a
town
government
to
buy
internet
services
so
that
someone
at
home
could
have
access
to
education,
counseling
support
systems,
transactions
with
city
government.
E
Finally,
there
was
a
state-
I
think
I
have
a
slide
up
here,
but
there
was
a
state
contract
as
well
state
department
of
education
contract
which
the
school
department
won
just
recently,
and
we
anticipate
that
that
contract
will
purchase
another
2
000
subscriptions
to
internet
essentials
for
boston,
school
children.
We
hope
that
combined.
All
of
these
things
will
be
of
great
benefit
to
the
citizens
of
boston.
E
L
Yes,
good
morning,
counselor.
Thank
you
very
much
for
for
the
invitation.
It
is.
It's
truly
always
a
pleasure
and
quite
an
honor
to
be
to
be
involved
in
these
discussions.
My
name
is
glenn
williams,
I'm
the
general
manager
of
boston,
neighborhood
network.
We
are
the
peg
access
station
here
in
boston
that
I'm
sure
a
bunch
of
you
know.
We
are
also
a
timothy
smith
network
lab
we
have
been
since
2001,
but
we
have.
We
have
14
computers
here
that
are
accessible
to
members.
L
Now,
we've
made
it
so
that
the
membership
is
very,
very
affordable
for
for
people
with
limited
income,
retirees
and
whatnot,
it's
40
to
42.50
a
year
for
unlimited
use
to
these
computers,
and
it
also
gives
them
access
to
the
classes
and
everything
else
that
that
goes
along
with
being
a
member
here
in
boston,
neighborhood
network.
But
the
timothy
smith
network
computers
are
are
some
people's
only
line
to
the
internet,
because
this
is
the
place
they
have
to
come
to
kind
of
get
online.
L
That's
that's
what
we
do
we're
also
partnering
this
year
with
tech
goes
home,
we're
doing
a
a
distance
learning
workshop
for
parents
of
boston,
public
school
students
where
the
parents
help
them
navigate.
The
google
classroom
and
communicate
with
teachers
enables
participation
to
effectively
use
popular
applications
and
internet
services.
It's
a
way
for
us
to
help
with
our
partnership
with
the
boston
public
schools.
L
They
also,
as
I
think
michael
michael
mentioned
a
couple
minutes
ago.
They
also
end
up
with
a
chromebook
and
assistance
in
signing
up
with
for
low-cost
internet
access.
We
feel
that
that's
an
important
aspect.
We've
been
a
partner
with
the
boston
public
schools
since
march
15th,
and
what
we've
been
doing
is
providing
classes
that
are
shown
on
our
on
the
stations
we've
dedicated
nine
o'clock
in
the
morning
till
noon
and
from
one
o'clock
in
the
afternoon
until
four
to
boston,
public
school
classes.
L
L
We're
also
having
classes
one
of
the
things
we're
doing
with
the
boston
public
schools
this
year
is
we're
expanding
all
of
that
kind
of
thing
and
we're
also
doing
coming
back
with
the
good
night
scholars.
So
the
kids
can
get
some
bedtime
stories.
I
am
reaching
out
now
to
all
city
councillors
to
participate
in
that.
L
L
Boston
neighborhood
networks
committed
to
making
sure
that
what
I
consider
an
essential
right
to
everybody
that
we
find
some
way
to
get
them
access
to
those
those
encounters,
those
most
valuable
assets
and
that's
access
to
the
internet.
Get
information
be
able
to
sit
in
on
schools.
I'm
very
proud
of
the
people
here
in
the
work
that
they're
doing
so
that's
just
a
little
quick.
What
what
weird,
what
we're
doing
and
and
we're
expanding
on
that
as
as
much
as
we
possibly
can.
Thank
you,
council
back
to
you.
A
Thank
you
glenn
and
thank
you
for
your
team.
You
guys
do
excellent
work,
so
we
appreciate
it
glenn
next.
Could
I
have
well
before
I
introduce
dean?
Could
I
I
wanted
to
recognize
my
colleagues
that
have
joined
us.
I
should
have
done
that
earlier.
Counselor,
edwards,
counselor,
janie
and
councillor
campbell
are
are
with
us.
If
you,
if,
council,
edwards,
janey
or
campbell
would
like
to
give
a
very
brief
opening
statement,
we
can
set
off
with
conicelli
edwards.
M
Can
you
see
me,
can
you
I'm
so
sorry
I'm
outside?
So
I
put
my
mask
back
on,
but
I
just
my
only
general
question
was
about
continued
access
to
archived
school
lessons
for
kids.
So
do
you
have
an
ongoing
online
tutorial
in
more
than
one
language
for
parents
who
are
still
looking
for
access
and
being
able
to
learn
how
to
navigate
the
internet.
L
L
So
so
we
know
that
that
they're,
using
the
asset
and
yes,
that
we
do
these
classes
we're
giving
are
in
multiple
languages
the
the
good
night
scholars
we
got
them
in
vietnamese
we've
got
them
in
spanish.
We've
got
them
in
in
haiti.
We
got
them
all
we're
trying
to
cover
everybody.
We
want
everyone
to
be
happy,
you
know
and
have
them
enjoy,
what
we're
what's
what's
out
there
for
them,
but
thank
you
I
I
hope
I
didn't
step
in
where
I,
oh
that's.
A
A
N
Morning,
councillor
flynn
and
and
thank
you
to
the
makers
for
having
a
hearing
in
continuing
the
conversation
on
this
critical
issue.
Thank
you
to
all
of
the
panelists
in
the
duet
department
working
really
hard
in
the
midst
of
a
pandemic.
This
is
all
new
for
everyone,
so
I
just
want
to
say
thank
you,
I'm
looking
forward
to
listening.
N
Obviously
the
digital
divide
has
existed
for
a
long
time,
and
so
we
have
a
unique
opportunity
to
work
collaboratively
to
close
it
for
so
many
families.
So
I
look
forward
to
continuing
to
be
a
part
of
that
work,
not
only
in
the
education
space
but
every
other
space,
including
accessing
government
services.
So
thank
you
again
to
the
makers.
Thank
you,
council
flynn.
I
will
give
any
time
to
the
panelists
to
continue
their
presentations.
A
D
D
Thank
you
so
much
for
this
opportunity
to
testify.
At
this
hearing
on
internet
access
and
digital
equity,
I
am
proud
to
represent
techo's
home
our
instructors
and
our
learners
for
many
students,
workers
and
families
in
boston.
Digital
exclusion
was
a
barrier
to
success.
Long
before
covid
the
pandemic
hasn't
created
a
new
problem
as
much
as
exposed
and
exacerbated
existing
digital
inequities.
D
D
Despite
curricula
in
school
systems
that
increasingly
increasingly
rely
on
virtual
solutions
for
communication,
direct
instruction
and
class
assignments,
thousands
of
students
in
massachusetts
and
millions
across
the
united
states
lack
access
to
either
internet
connection
or
device
for
learning
at
home.
Students
of
color
black
and
black
and
latinx
students
in
particular,
are
over
represented
among
those
without
access.
D
Boston
schools
has
done
a
great
job
of
getting
critical
resources
to
the
vast
majority
of
families
and
they
are
continuing
to
work
with
schools
and
community
organizations
such
as
techo's
home
to
reach
those
still
without
the
resources
they
need.
But
we
all
know
it
takes
more
than
simply
getting
chromebooks
and
access
into
the
hands
of
families.
D
The
entire
family
needs
training
and
the
skills
and
support
to
take
advantage
of
that
technology
applying
for
advancing
in
and
accessing
higher
paying
job
opportunities
increasingly
requires
a
range
of
digital
skills
from
online
job
forums
and
job
applications
to
virtual
interviews
and
email
capabilities,
and
yet
the
data
shows
that
workers
of
color
are
over
represented
among
those
with
limited
or
no
digital
skills
of
all
black
workers.
13
have
advanced
digital
skills
compared
to
41
of
white
workers.
D
Digital
access
is
critical
to
ensuring
we
count
every
member
of
our
community
in
order
to
secure
equitable
funding
for
schools,
housing
and
other
community
resources.
Yet,
with
only
days
left
to
fill
out
the
census.
Only
58
percent
of
boston
households
have
done
so
disproportionately,
impacting
quote
hard
to
count
and
historically
marginalized
communities,
including.
D
Today,
access
to
the
internet,
digital
devices
in
the
training
to
utilize
those
tools,
a
skill
set
that
we
too
often
take
for
granted,
are
critical
to
receiving
an
education,
pursuing
economic
opportunity
and
accessing
and
engaging
with
essential
services
like
healthcare,
the
census
and
community
resources
by
working
in
collaboration
with
nearly
150
communities.
Community-Based
partners
throughout
boston,
tecco's
home,
provides
digital
devices,
internet
access
and
skills
training
to
amplify
existing
work.
Tackling
these
critical
social
justice
issues.
D
We
serve
students,
teachers,
adults,
senior
citizens
and
families
throughout
greater
boston
from
ages.
Three
to
ninety
five:
seventy
five
percent
of
our
learners
have
household
incomes
of
under
35
000
a
year
30
of
our
adult
learners
we
work
with
are
unemployed,
85
percent
are
people
of
color
and
nearly
50
percent
are
immigrants.
D
D
Thankfully,
the
private
sector
has
recently
stepped
up
to
ups,
recently
stepped
up
to
the
plate,
supporting
techo's
home
at
record
levels
and
the
city
of
boston
and
mayor
welsh
continue
to
be
fundamental
champions
of
our
work.
Building
on
the
city's
20
years
of
foundational
support,
we
commend
counselors
flynn,
mejia
and
flaherty
for
calling
this
hearing
and
commend
all
the
members
of
the
city
council
who
are
focused
on
digital
equity
in
different
areas
of
our
city.
D
D
O
A
Thank
you.
Thank
you.
Councilor
o'malley,
I'm
going
to
go
right
into
questions,
I'm
going
to
start
with
counselor
mejia,
but
I
just
wanted
to
provide
my
opening
statements
very
briefly.
If
I
may,
we
filed
this
hearing
order
to
ensure
internet
access
and
digital
equity
in
boston
as
the
internet
is
becoming
increasingly
indispensable
to
everyday
life,
especially
during
this
pandemic.
A
C
Thank
you,
counselor
flynn,
and
thank
you
to
the
panelists.
I'm
really
happy
to
continue
the
dialogue,
so
this
question
is
specifically
for
mike
lynch,
I'm
just
curious
with
wicked
free
y5,
and
it
is
very
wicked
because
it's
not
across
the
entire
city
of
boston.
So
I'm
just
curious.
How
does
do
it
determine
where
to
set
up
wicked
wi-fi,
and
is
there
an
approval
or
community
response
to
this
process?
Can
you
just
help
us
understand
the
mechanics
of
that.
E
Happy
to
do
so,
counselor
wicked
free
wi-fi
is,
is
really
an
extension
of
the
city's
fiber
network,
where
we
have
city
fiber
in
a
city
building
we
put
up
aps
wireless
access
points
for
wicked
free
wi-fi.
Likewise
the
library
does
it
at
libraries
and
the
schools
do
it
within
the
schools.
So,
combined
from
all
three
city,
schools
and
libraries
there,
there
are
hundreds
out
there,
but
they
are
virtually.
E
One
of
the
reasons
for
that
is
that
we
do
have
a
rather
large
city
network
for
city
use
and
all
of
the
fiber
that
is
in
that
comes
from
the
cable.
Broadband
providers
within
the
city
comes
from
comcast,
verizon,
rcn
and
also
the
new
company
crown
where
council
approved
the
contract
about
a
year
or
two
ago.
So
all
of
those
contracts
have
a
kind
of
a
kind
of
like
a
non-compete
clause,
but
really
what
it
is
it's
for
municipal
use.
Only
we
can
give
away
wicked
free
wi-fi
as
a
public
convenience
around
city
buildings.
E
We
we
always
try
to
do
it
when
we
can,
in
a
in
a
a
main
street
or
a
neighborhood
business
district,
if
possible,
I
think
over
the
next
over
the
coming
years
it
will
get
stronger
and
currently
we
do
have
hundreds.
I
don't,
I
think
a
thousand
is
too
much
of
a
reach.
I
think
more.
It's
around
700,
but
I
have
to
double
check
aps
out
there
and
it
will
continue
to
grow.
E
I
think
in
the
in
the
year,
because
of
security
issues.
We
really
can't
use
like
a
community
partner
right
now
to
extend
on
that
all
of
the
wi-fi
kind
of
comes
through
the
city
network.
So
we
have
to
be
a
little
protective.
This
is
something
new
for
us.
We
do
think
that
there
should
be
like
a
neighborhood
contribution
or
an
intuition.
A
non-profit
constitute
contribution
to
this,
where
people
in
businesses
that
do
have
wi-fi
can
offer
it
to
the
public,
and
the
public
can
be
confident
that
it
that
is
safe
and
secure.
C
Thank
you,
mr
lynch.
For
that
response.
I'm
just
also
very
curious,
and
I
just
kind
of
want
to
name
it,
that
the
neighborhoods,
like
the
south
end
mattapan,
lower
alston
and
parts
of
east
boston
have
absolutely
no
wicked
free
wi-fi,
and
I
know
that
we
have
libraries
and
schools
in
those
areas
and
I'm
just
curious.
C
E
E
I
know
that
we
now
have
about
six
to
a
dozen
in
east
boston.
I
don't
know
the
exact
locations
off
the
top
of
my
head.
I
want
to
say
central
square
for
some
and
some
around
maverick
okay,
matapan,
similar
outside
the
library.
Again,
the
way
I
look
at
it,
we
look
at
where
there's
a
city
building
and
we
grow
from
there.
C
C
I
I
don't
think
that
everyone
knows
that
wicked
y5
is
something
that
is
accessible.
What
efforts
are
we
making
to
ensure
that
folks
understand
that
this
is
a
resource?
Are
we
encouraging
people
to
set
up
shop
in
front
of
a
library
and
do
remote
learning
and
remote
access
like?
How
are
we
addressing
the
need
and
how
we're
communicating
this
to
those
folks
who
may
not
have
access
to
this
from
this
information.
E
Okay,
I
guess
I'll
take
that
one
counselor,
I
think
right
now.
What
we're
using
is
signage
where
wi-fi
is
available.
In
addition,
there's
both
a
map
and
instructions,
if
you
will
on
the
city's
website
boston.gov,
if
you
just
put
it
wicked
free
it'll,
show
you
some
information
about
where
it's
located
when
it's
available,
how
to
sign
on.
Lastly,
if
you
are
out
and
about
and
using
your
phone,
your
phone
should
snap
to
wicked
free
wi-fi.
If
you
open,
say
a
browser
on
your
phone,
it's
an
open
network.
C
Is
it
is
this
in
multiple
languages
I
mean?
Is
it
something
that,
and
I
don't
know
technology,
I
don't
know
what
the
cost
would
look
like
or
if
there's
something
that
already
exists,
but
is
it
something
that
is
easily
translated
into
different
languages
so
that
people
know
the
signage
that
you're
talking
about?
Is
it
in
in
spanish?
Is
it
in
haitian
creole?
Is
it
in
multiple
languages.
E
Oh,
actually,
you
know,
I
don't
know,
I
think
the
signage
when
it
originally
went
up
is
somewhat
generic
and
just
graphic.
It
was
a
lime,
green
kind
of
radio
signal
that
suggested
it
was
there
and
there
was
nothing
beyond
that
I'll
double
check
on
the
website.
I
know
the
website.
Information
is
accessible
in
multiple
languages.
I
can't
say
exactly
which
language
is
right
now.
C
C
J
A
I
Thank
you,
mr
chairman.
Obviously,
thanks
to
the
city
and
to
the
city
partners
panel,
we
appreciate
the
work
that
that
do
it
and
boston
neighborhood
network
media,
as
well
as
tech
goes
home,
does
so
for
the
gentlemen
that
are
on
this
panel.
I
appreciate
the
work
that
you
guys
and
your
staffs
do
to
make
things
work
for
our
city
and
to
keep
our
city
moving
forward
a
question
for
dan
dia
noise.
I
Again,
thanks
for
the
work
that
tech
goes
home,
does
it's
so
important
that
we
make
sure
that
our
community
organizations
and
small
businesses
that
serve
so
many
people
in
our
communities
have
access
to
technology?
So
can
you
just
speak
briefly
about
your
experience
during
covet
19
and
where
are
there
still
ongoing
gaps
and
access
to
to
tech
in
the
internet?.
D
It's
a
great
question.
The
the
this
is
going
to
be.
The
sad
answer
is
counselor
is
everywhere
that
this
is
a
huge
problem
that
we
are
fighting
against.
I
can
tell
you
just
in
terms
of
what
we're
seeing
in
so
we
we
work
currently
with
about
150
community
partners
to
offer
our
courses
so
we're
in
45,
boston,
schools
and
community,
centers
and
homeless,
shelters
and
everywhere.
We
currently
have
a
waitlist
of
65
organizations
across
the
city
that
want
to
work
with
us
that
we
can't
work
with
solely
because
of
funding.
D
We
just
we
just
don't
have
the
funding
for
and
those
organizations
represent
nearly
every
neighborhood
every
community.
In
the
city
I
mean,
as
you
might
imagine,
the
vast
majority
of
our
learners
come
from
dorchester
roxbury
matapan
in
east
boston,
but
you
know
we
back
bay.
We
run
with
women's
lunch
place,
which
is
a
day
shelter
for
women,
that's
right
down
near
copley,
and
so
it's
not
obviously
just
those
communities.
D
I
think
what
counselor
mahesh
said
earlier
specifically
was
if,
if
the
estimate
that
five
percent
of
boston
families
don't
have
internet,
I
mean
that
represents
nearly
3
000
people,
and
if
you
also
think
that
you've
got
4
500
homeless
families
in
boston,
public
schools,
almost
students,
I
should
say
in
boston,
public
schools,
how
are
they
getting
internet?
I
I
wish
I
had.
I
wish
I
could
say
that
we've
had
massive
success
in
this
neighborhood.
I
just
think
the
problem
is
very
large.
D
I
Says-
and
I
agree
and-
and
I
appreciate
the
work
that
that
you're
doing
there
dan
and
you
know
obviously
like
everything
else-
we
wish
there
were
more
of
you
and
and
and
more
capacity
for
tech
goes
home.
So
I
know
that
that's
100,
I
was
that's
a
big
number
150
organizations.
I
was
sort
of
thinking
more
on
the
sort
of
75
to
100
range,
so
that's
excellent
that
you've
you've
got
that
reach,
particularly
during
covid.
D
I
L
Okay,
well,
what
we
did
right
away
in
march.
Thank
you
councilor
for
the
question.
I
appreciate
it
and
yes,
we
are
old
friends.
We
go
back.
One
of
the
things
that
that
we
did
right
away
in
in
in
march
was
to
reach
out
to
boston
public
schools,
with
the
with
the
fact
that
the
kids
aren't
going
to
be
in
class
and
that
there
was
this
inequity
as
far
as
internet
access
is
concerned,
and
I
immediately
became
part
of
the
of
their
committee
that
was
going
to
talk
about
how
do
we?
L
How
do
we
teach
these
kids
away
from
the
classroom?
What
what
are
the
resources
that
we
have
and
internet
and
internet
was
going
to
be
we're
going
to
use
google
classroom?
We
were
going
to
do
all
of
these
things
and
right
away,
it
became
apparent
that
the
chromebooks
were
going
to
be
a
difficulty
in
that
that
access
to
the
internet
was
going
to
be
a
problem
and
right
away,
we
kind
of
said
well,
you
know,
we've
got
this
station.
The
basic
cable
people
get
anybody
that
has
roko
or
any
of
that
can
get
these
stations.
L
Why
don't
we
develop
an
opportunity
to
get
some
programming
so
so
we've
been
doing
preschool
programming
twice
a
week,
we've
been
doing
live,
call-in,
math,
math
programs,
where
kids
in
elementary
school
kids
in
middle
school
kids
in
high
school
can
sign
on,
cannot
sign
on.
I'm
sorry
can
tune
into
these
television
programs
and
say
hey.
D
L
A
minute
back
up
a
bit,
can
you
explain
that
to
me
again,
then:
we've
also
got
a
great
organization
that
works
within
the
boston,
public
schools
called
science
club
for
girls,
and
it's
it's
an
amazingly
funny
and
very
very
ruby
program
that
talks
about
science
and
involves
involves
the
young
women
in
in
our
educational
system,
so
that
they
can
it's
just
a
really
cool
program.
It's
targeted
for
them
and
then
we
also
have
stem
goes
home.
L
We
have
educate,
we
have
the
the
the
the
workout
groups
they're
all
doing
it,
and
in
the
arts
too,
of
course
the
arts
and-
and
we
get
them
involved
in
all
the
programming.
They
send
us
the
programs
we
play
them
on
the
air,
the
kids
go
back
and
re-watch
it
we're
right
in
the
middle
of
getting
that
wound
up
again,
we
don't
know
which
way
we're
going
to
go.
If
the
kids
are
in
school,
we
don't
need
to
be
showing
them
during
the
day
and,
of
course,
the
good
night
scholars.
J
J
D
It's
a
great
question
and
it's
a
particular
group
that
we
do
focus
on
so
more
than
last
year,
at
least
more
than
10
of
our
learners,
so
nearly
600
of
them
were
senior
citizens
that
graduated
through
our
program.
We
have
a
newfound
found
wrong
way
to
put
that
a
a
new
push
for
telemedicine
work
specifically
around
for
seniors
one
of
our
most
recent
graduates.
Some
of
you
might
know
lieutenant
colonel
enoch
woodhouse.
You
may
have
counselor
bach.
You
know
him
counselor
flynn,
he
graduates
he's
95..
D
He
took
a
techosome
program
actually
with
our
partnership
with
the
coffee
library
and
learned
how
to
access
health
resources
online.
He
he
was
a
hoot.
If
you
don't
know
him,
google
him
he's
a
tuskegee
airman,
which
is
just
is
amazing,
but
yeah
so
for
seniors
in
particular,
and
working
very
closely
with
emily
shea
at
age.
Strong,
we've
done,
we've
had
a
relationship
with
them
for
over
10
years,
but
yeah
it's
it's.
Definitely.
A
good
focus
of
ours
is
for
seniors
because
of
the
social
isolation
issues.
J
D
Nearly
all
of
our
learners
come
to
us
via
our
partner
organizations,
so,
for
example,
if
they're
in
touch
with
someone
age,
strong
or
any
of
the
the
senior
housing
in
the
area
or
via
a
community
center
or
whatever
the
association
is
or
community
organization
they
work
with,
they
should
reach
out
to
those
groups.
They
can
also
reach
out
to
us
if
they
want
directly
and
then
we
can
tell
them.
Oh
there's
this
these
courses
running
seniors.
D
We
prefer
to
do
senior
courses
when
with
other
seniors,
if
that
makes
sense,
just
because
the
it
can
be
challenging.
I
was
in
a.
I
was
visiting
a
course
once
and
it
took
four
hours
for
the
group
of
seniors
to
sign
up
for
an
email
account
and
at
the
end
they
were
they
were.
They
were
kind
of
flirting
with
each
other
via
email.
D
Things
I've
ever
seen
in
my
life
is
that
they
were
emailing
each
other
back
and
forth
across
the
room
having
never
sent
email
before.
This
was
actually
a
tsn
lab
in
the
basement
of
the
latin
latin
academy,
and
it
was
it
was
just
adorable,
so
so
yes,
reach
out
to
their
community
organizations
that
are
associated
with
their
libraries.
We
work
with
11
different
branches
of
the
boston,
public
library
and
then
they're
also
welcome
to
reach
out
to
us
either
call
us
or
check
out
our
website.
J
D
D
They
get
people
together
and
say:
let's
do
a
course
they
reach
out
to
us
and
say
all
right
here
are
the
names
and
addresses
of
the
people
that
are
going
to
be
my
course.
We
then
ups,
a
computer,
a
bag,
a
mouse,
a
hotspot.
If
they
need
it,
we
sign
them
up
for
internet
ahead
of
time.
It
gets
sent
right
to
their
doorstop.
D
They
open
that
box
and
there's
instructions
right
in
there.
All
of
our
instructors
then
call
each
of
the
people
to
make
sure
they
can
get
online,
make
sure
they
can
click
on
the
zoom
button,
so
they
can
start
their
class
and
then
they
go
through
the
process
of
running
a
tgh
course,
which
involves
a
lot
of
one-on-one
time.
I
mean
our
instructors
again.
This
goes
back
to
what
I
was
saying
about.
You
know
the
people
working
at
bnn
or
any
of
our
partner
sites.
They've.
J
A
H
H
Yeah,
no
sorry
yeah.
I
thought
the
same.
No,
thank
you
all
so
much
and
I
just
wanna,
I
wanna
stress,
I
think
the
programs
that
we're
doing
that
you
all
have
talked
about
today.
Everything
from
bnn
to
the
tech
goes
home
and
wicked
free
wi-fi
and
the
fiber
optic
cable
in
a
lot
of
our
mutual
buildings.
I
mean
I
really
I
do
agree.
I
think
it
was
mike
who
said
we
are
doing
a
lot
more
than
a
lot
of
cities,
and
I
think
you
know
it's
important
to
recognize
that.
H
There
are
a
lot
of
states
in
the
country
where
municipalities
are
like
sort
of
explicitly
prohibited
by
their
state
law,
from
really
engaging
in
a
lot
of
municipal
broadband
related
activities
and
we're
fortunate
that
we're
not
one
of
those
and
so
I'm
kind
of
interested
in
how
as
boston
we
can
be
a
real
leader.
So
I
guess
one
question
is
just
like
you
know:
municipal
broadband.
Have
we
like?
Have
we
thought
about
it?
Have
we
run
that
up
the
flagpole,
like
you
know
I
routinely
get.
H
E
E
The
challenges
we've
had
in
boston
boston
is
such
a
dense
city
and
building
out
something
we've
looked
at
this
many
times.
I
guess
over
the
years,
because
we
have
some
resources
that
we
thought
could
make
it
work.
It's
a
question
about
whether
or
not
it
is
viable
and
whether
or
not
it
is
affordable.
E
We
haven't
found
a.
We
haven't,
found
kind
of
an
equation
where
that
matches
up
right
now
we
have
looked
at
things
like
our
fire
alarm
network.
How
could
we
it's
a
300
mile
network?
How
can
we
adapt
that
to
this
situation?
It
doesn't
quite
fly.
We've
looked
at
utility
poles
that
are
in
the
city
owned
by
eversource
and
verizon.
Could
we
attach
and
deploy
that
way?
E
Likewise,
it
had
challenges.
Four
years
ago
the
mayor
brought
verizon
in
and
verizon
said
something
they'd
never
said
before
to
the
city
of
boston.
They
said
yeah
we'll
do
fios
in
boston,
so
for
the
first
time
in
30
years,
boston
had
some
serious
competition
right
now.
I
think,
on
my
on
the
front
end
of
this
hearing,
I
mentioned
that
we
have
three
broadband
providers
in
boston
through
facilities,
they're,
cable
companies,
essentially
rcn,
verizon
and
podcast,
and
we
have
three
wireless
companies
that
are
also
doing
it.
Netblazer
and
starry
are
two
of
them.
E
E
So
people
in
a
multiple
dwelling
unit
might
have
only
one
provider
because
whoever
built
out
the
building
didn't
bring
in
the
second
one.
That's
something
that's
a
bit
of
a
challenge
and
we
try
to
address
that
through
the
permitting
process.
If
you
will.
Secondly,
sometimes
in
very
large
developments,
you
might
have
an
historic
relationship
between
the
provider
and
the
owner
of
the
property
or
the
property
management
company,
which
has
let
others
not
come
in.
E
That
is
technically
not
legal
under
fcc
rules,
and
it
tends
to
get
fought
on
a
one
by
one
case
because
it
used
to
be
allowed,
and
now
it
isn't.
So
it's
a
changing
landscape
that
they
have
to
be
made
aware
of.
Lastly,
when
we
ran
the
numbers
on
the
different
options,
fire
alarm,
other
things,
building
things
out
around
the
investments
by
two
companies
say:
comcast
and
verizon-
probably
exceed
300
million
to
build
the
backbone
to
provide
broadband
service.
E
In
boston,
I'm
not
the
city
doesn't
have
that
resource,
I'm
not
sure
where
it
would
come
from
when
the
state
went
to
take
care
of
western
massachusetts
which
had
no
broadband,
no
cable,
no
cell
service,
they
built
a
fiber
pipe
right
out
west,
all
the
way
past
those
towns,
probably
10
or
12
years
ago.
Many
of
those
towns
are
still
fighting
today
to
get
broadband
service,
I
mean
the
summer,
even
though
the
first
mile
or
the
big
backbone
was
built.
E
The
last
aisle
is
the
largest
challenge
that
is
getting
from
the
street
into
the
home.
I'm
sorry,
if
I'm
a
little
all
over
the
place,
but
it's
a
complicated
it's
a
complicated
issue.
I
think
boston
is
ahead
of
most
communities.
I
read
last
week
that
I
think
it
was
cleveland
who
was
looking
at
maybe
one
third
of
their
residents
unserved.
E
H
H
It
seems
to
me
that
when
I
think
about
you
know
people
who
are
aren't
able
to
access
comcast
internet
essentials
because
of
a
past
experience
with
the
cable
company
and
and
when
I
think
about
families
of
most
need.
I
find
myself
thinking
a
lot
about
my
past
work
at
the
housing
authority
and
I
guess
I
am
curious.
It
seems
to
me
if
I
were
to
start.
If
I
were
going
to
start
municipal
broadband
at
a
you
know,
to
skip
to
greater
scale
with
our
residential
addresses.
E
Well,
I'm
glad
you
asked
the
question
because
I
forgot
to
mention
them.
First
off
we
are
connecting
the
housing
authority
to
the
city
network
and
that's
in
boston.
All
the
councillors
know
that's
somewhat
unique.
That
was
part
of
the
capital
project
that
all
of
the
council
has
approved
to
expand
our
fiber
network.
But
it's
unique
in
that
the
authority
is
an
independent
agency.
E
It's
it's
almost
unheard
of
that
the
city
would
reach
out
and
say
we
have
to
do
this,
but
we
recognize
the
need
to
help
them
with
things
like
their
administration,
their
convenience,
wi-fi
their
security
issues,
etc,
their
environmental
issues,
all
that
which
can
be
handled
on
a
platform
of
our
fiber
network.
Meanwhile,
I
know
that,
right
now
the
bha
is
looking
to
connect
to
that
fiber
that
we
have
provided
to
them
and
it's
not
every
unit
every
development.
E
Yet
it's
maybe
about
six
shy,
but
that'll
happen
within
the
next
year,
but
they're
going
to
put
in
access
points,
they're
going
to
be
using
this
for
administrative
purposes,
they're
going
to
be
using
it
for
security,
environmental
purposes
and
it'll
be
a
quantum
leap
for
the
housing
authority.
In
terms
of
bringing
its
connectivity
up
up
to
up
to
a
standard
with
the
rest
of
the
city,.
H
And
that's
great
to
hear,
I
would
love
to
see
us
move
to
a
world
in
which
we
could
also
be.
I
mean
this
is
where
I
get
back
to
the
sort
of
mutual
broadband
right
in
which
we'd
be
like
providing
an
alternative
service
for
the
residents
as
well.
There
and
kind
of
you
know
being
a
direct
indirect
competition
with.
I
think,
a
lot
of
those
properties
just
have
one
of
the
main
providers.
E
That's
right,
so
they
will
no
longer
have
one
main
provider.
They
will
all
have
a
competitive
provider.
In
addition
to
that,
we'll
take
care
of
sort
of
the
the
back
end
of
the
functions
of
the
authority,
as
you
will,
and
lastly,
much
like
the
school
department
looking
to
secure
2000
for
boston
families.
E
H
H
And
I
I
suspect,
my
I
suspect
my
time
is
up.
I
I'm
again
really
grateful
for
all
you.
I'd
love
to
see
us
push
further,
and
I
did
make
note
of
your
comments
about
sort
of
new
developments
and
what
we
can
require
of
people
to
build
and
how
much
we
can
require
people
to
let
people
in.
I
think,
if
there's
anything
that
you
need
on
the
council
side
in
the
form
of
an
ordinance
or
anything
on
that
front,
it's
something
I'd
love
to
see
us
work
on.
N
Thank
you,
councillor
flynn,
and
thank
you
to
all
of
the
panelists,
really
appreciate
the
work
both
inside
of
city
government
and
outside,
and
you
know,
boston
is
doing
well
compared
to
other
municipalities
right
here
in
the
commonwealth,
and
you
know
mike
and
david.
Thank
you
david.
Obviously,
I've
connected
actual
legislators
and
local
municipal
electeds
and
other
municipalities
with
you
to
help
them
look
at
setting
up
broadband.
N
You
often
hear
different
sort
of
anecdotal
stories,
but
I
don't
know
that
I've
really
seen
in-depth
research
with
respect
to
to
the
difference
in
terms
of
access
and
the
the
sort
of
the
cost.
So
if
there's
any
information
available
to
that
that
that
would
be
helpful
and
then
you
know
many
of
my
questions
were
asked
and
asked
in
terms
of
how
to
expand
access
to
broadband
to
certain
neighborhoods
right
now,
my
district,
obviously
the
biggest
neighborhoods,
are
dorchester
and
matapan
how
to
expand
it
to
senior
buildings
or
housing
authorities.
N
I've
seen
some
progress
in
that
regard.
You
know,
I
remember
my
first
I
think
was
my
first
week
on
the
council
was
looking
at
a
senior
building
right
in
dorchester
and
seeing
how
we
could
get
those
seniors
access
to
to
internet
and
there
were
some
private
options
available.
Actually,
I
think
only
one
at
that
time,
but
it
wasn't,
it
wasn't
free
and
the
seniors
really
needed
it
to
be
free.
So
we've
seen
some
progress,
but
I
think
my
biggest
question
is
we
know
many
of
the
gaps
and
you
know
I
think
dan.
N
You
talked
about
this
too.
Just
in
terms
of
the
resources,
the
lack
of
resources-
and
I
just
you
know-
we're
in
boston
in
greater
boston
with
billions
of
dollars
flowing
through
this
economy,
even
in
the
midst
of
covert
19,
we
know
there
are
companies
that
are
doing
really
well,
and
so
I
just
refuse
to
accept
the
resource
gap
for
an
issue
that
is
so
critical,
and
you
know
it's
not
just
about.
N
Like
you
guys
have
all
said
glenn
I
mean
all
of
you,
it's
not
just
about
hardware
software,
it's
also
about
the
training,
the
services
we
have
all
these
hired
institutions.
We
have
mit,
harvard
you
name
it.
We
are
so
resource
heavy,
not
just
financially,
but
also
when
it
comes
to
institutional
resources.
N
Why
does
this
you
know?
How
do
we
get
over
the
gap?
Is
it
we're
not
prioritizing
this?
Is
that
we're
not
working
in
collectively?
Are
we
working
in
silos?
I
just
refuse
to
say
the
gap
is
the
problem.
We
have
such
great
leadership
in
all
of
you
who
are
doing
this
work
every
day,
and
so
how
do
we
as
counselors
and
where
we
sit,
really
push
for
that
gap?
To
close
in
terms
of
whether
it's
resources,
monetary
or
human
capital
or
expertise.
N
D
So
when
you
think
of
it,
it's
a
pretty
simple
number
to
work
with.
If
you,
you
know,
multiply
whatever
number
you
have
and
multiply
it
by
700
bucks,
and
it
gets
you
to
about
what
you're
talking
about.
I
mean
I
will
say
that
the
kovid
has
really.
I
mentioned
this
in
my
in
my
testimony
that
you
know
we've
seen
a
huge
increase
in
private
sector
funding.
D
You
know
the
city
has
been
incredibly
supportive
of
us
over
the
last
20
years
and
continues
to
be
now
so
we've
been
able
to
remain
level
funded
and
yet
the
our
city,
our
private
sector
funding,
is
on
pace
now
to
be
about
twice
what
our
city
funding
was
while
two
years
ago,
it
was
even
so
we're
seeing
a
lot
of
interest.
Our
fear,
though,
and
we're
having
conversations
internally
about
this
right
now,
is
that
right
now
there
is
a
spotlight
on
digital
equity.
D
L
If
I
made
council
of
flynn
thank
you
dan,
that
was
council,
I
think
one
of
the
one
of
the
issues
you
hit
the
nail
on.
Let's
identify
these
areas,
let
me
narrow
down
who,
where,
where
this,
where
this
broadband
areas
are.
But
I
also
think
that
educating
people
that
there's
a
problem
is
sometimes
sometimes
an
issue
making
sure
that
that
the
communities
at
large
recognize
and
realize
that
this
is
something
that
is
being
addressed.
L
I
sit
on
several
communities
on
on
on
inclusion
in
equity,
and
that's
one
of
the
main
things
they
talk
about
is
that
sometimes
people
don't
recognize
that
there
is
that
problem,
and
I
think
more
meetings
like
this
and
more
meetings
that
all
of
us
are
putting
out
to
the
community.
Identifying
these
problems
and
bringing
people
into
that
into
those
issues
is
is
is
a
step.
It's
not
the
solution.
L
Obviously,
but
it's
a
step
and-
and
I
think
that,
because
of
the
areas
that
we're
going
to
be
identifying
as
as
areas
we've
got
to
do
it
in
multiple
languages,
we've
got
to
do
it
multiple
times
and
we've
got
to
be
able
to
get
the
message
across
that
there
are
resources.
There
are
ways
around
this
issue
because
I
believe
there
are
ways
around
the
issue
and
it
can
be
it
can
be
accomplished.
I
don't
want
to
think
about
the
changing
in
technology.
P
N
L
N
And
I'm
sure,
I'm
at
my
time,
counselor
flynn,
but
so
in
terms
of
the
data
or
research.
That
would
be
helpful
if
there's
any
follow-up
there
and
we'll
continue
to
push
this,
and
I
think
you're
right
on
the
the
people,
not
understanding
the
nature
of
the
problem.
It
was
shocking
to
me
how
many
folks
didn't
know
a
digital
divide
existed,
forget
in
boston
in
this
country
until
the
pandemic.
N
A
Thank
you.
Thank
you,
council,
campbell
and
council
campbell.
Yes,
we're
going
to
have
a
working
session,
probably
in
the
next
60
days
or
so,
and
I
I
do
hope
to
bring
in
some
of
the
providers
and
hopefully
that
they
can
provide
specific
answers
to
those
questions.
But
in
the
meantime
we
will
do
some
research
as
from
this
committee
and
get
those
answers
and
I'll
make
sure
we
share
them.
With
my
colleagues
on
the
council.
D
Councillor
flynn,
if
I
could
just
add
that
the
american
community
survey
acs,
which
is
run
by
the
census,
has
very
specific
neighborhood-focused
internet
access
and
computer
data
and
david
and
mike,
would
know
better
than
me.
The
city
actually
has
this
great
map,
where
you
can
actually
go
neighborhood
by
neighborhood
and
see
where
the
lack
of
access
and
the
lack
of
computers
are
and
no
one
will
be
surprised
or
what
they
see.
A
Now,
that's
that's
great
to
know
dan
and
we'll
call
on
you
for
that
working
session.
Having
said
that,
I
I
think
we've
asked
all
the
questions
for
the
first
panel.
I
want
to
shift
now
to
the
second
panel,
but
before
I
do
that,
I
do
want
to
say
thank
you
to
the
administration
staff
that
is
here.
I
want
to
say
thank
you
to
dan
dan
and
the
other,
the
other
panelists
that
are
here.
You
provided
excellent
feedback
and
information
engaged.
Our
council
colleagues
and
you
provided
excellent
background
information.
A
That
keem
jackson
who's
the
senior
director
of
family
engagement
in
external
relations,
education
network
and
in
I
I
also
want
to
let
the
first
piano
know
if
you
want
to
stay
on,
you
can,
but
I
know
you
have
busy
schedules
as
well.
If
you
wanted
to
leave
us,
that's
also
fine,
but
again
want
to
say
thank
you,
the
second
piano.
The
second
person
is
pian
edinger
she's,
the
president
of
bunker
hill
community
college.
A
We
have
lorena
lapora,
executive
director
of
massachusetts,
latinos
for
education
and
deborah
barcas
who's,
the
executive
director
castle
square
tenants
organization
right
here
in
this
in
the
south
end.
So
I
want
to
say
thank
you
to
the
panelists
for
being
here
and
with
that
I
would
ask
if
you
would
like
to
go
right
into
opening
statements,
and
maybe
we
could
start
with
mr
jackson.
Q
All
right
good
afternoon,
everyone,
my
name,
is
akeem
jackson,
as
he
stated,
I'm
the
senior
director
of
family
engagement
and
external
relations
club
education
network.
We
currently
serve
three
schools
in
boston
and
over
two
thousand
students
want
to
share
a
special
thank
you
to
councillors,
mahia
flynn
and
flaherty,
for
putting
this
on
and
allowing
me
to
be
a
part
today,
as
we
get
as
students
across
the
city
of
boston
engage
in
remote
learning,
we're
here
to
address
gaps
in
providing
equitable
access
to
the
internet.
Q
As
you
all
know,
remote
learning
is
dependent
upon
students
having
technology
in
the
form
of
a
computer
and
high-speed
internet
that
can
support
live
streaming.
Not
having
these
important
tools
is
a
serious
barrier
to
students
being
able
to
learn
and
thrive.
These
tools
are
essential
to
students
education
back
in
the
spring.
When
we
first
began
to
engage
in
remote
learning,
we
identified
a
huge
need
around
our
families,
not
having
adequate
internet
access.
We
work
very
closely
with
them
to
better
understand
the
need
and
offer
support.
Q
Currently
we
are
partnering
with
comcast
to
ensure
this
need
is
met.
We're
also
working
very
closely
with
verizon
to
provide
hot
spots
for
those
who
do
not
qualify
for
comcast.
Our
approach
is
about
making
sure
quality
internet
is
accessible
by
covering
the
cost
for
families
and
making
the
enrollment
and
setup
process
more
easy
and
seamless.
This
is
not
a
resource
issue.
This
is
an
equity
issue,
ensuring
that
our
students
have
access
to
high
quality
education,
regardless
of
their
family's
financial
situation.
Q
In
order
for
our
students
to
be
successful,
they
need
access
to
the
internet
to
engage
in
everyday
learning,
while
things
are
in
a
much
better
place
now
than
they
were
in
the
spring.
The
need
will
continue
today
is
about
coming
together
as
a
city
to
put
together
a
more
comprehensive
long-term
plan
that
addresses
this
issue
on
a
grander
scale
and
provides
a
sustainable
solution.
Q
The
reality
is
that
this
is
our
new
norm,
and
this
is
a
norm
that
highlights
the
need
for
internet
and
technology
as
the
world
progresses
on
behalf
of
education
network
and
the
students
and
families
we
serve.
I
would
like
to
say
thank
you
again
for
your
time
and
consideration
and
again
a
special
thank
you
to
councillors.
Flynn,
flaherty
and
may
here.
Thank
you
all.
A
Thank
you.
Thank
you.
Mr
jackson.
Next
is
pm.
Medinger
who's,
the
president
of
bunker
hill
community
college,
an
outstanding,
an
outstanding
educational
facility
in
our
city
provides
tremendous
opportunities
for
so
many
young
people
across
our
city,
especially
our
immigrant
neighbors.
So
we
want
to
say
thank
you
to
pam
for
being
here
with
us
and
pm.
Do
you
have
an
opening
statement.
R
Yes,
very
briefly,
thank
you,
mr
chair,
and,
and
and
greetings
to
our
counselors
and
and
and
the
guests
for
this
hearing.
A
lot
of
what
has
been
said
from
the
administrative
team
hope
holds
true
for
for
bunker
hill.
We
have
about
16
000
students
and
in
march,
in
the
middle
of
march,
when
we
pivoted
1700
courses
online,
we
saw
where
the
brakes
are.
It
was
very
much
like
a
lightning
in
the
night
right,
all
the
fissures
and
all
the
cracks
and
all
the
gaps.
R
So
I
think
either
one
of
the
counselors
or
one
of
your
guests
says
that
you
know
we
we
we
have
a
utility,
not
met.
I
think
it
was
counselor
bach,
and
I
think
that
is
true,
because
this
is
a
public
health
issue.
This
is
a
public
education
issue,
higher
education
issue,
but
I
think
it's
also
a
commerce
issue
in
which
commerce
is
not
being
conducted
online.
R
We
ended
up
giving
students
a
sort
of
wi-fi
scholarships
for
them
to
keep
up
with
the
payments
and
a
lot
of
times
we'll
ask
students
to
turn
their
smartphones
into
a
hotspot
and
then
help
them
pay
for
it.
So
the
socioeconomic
piece
is
a
large
piece
of
it,
and
we've
been
fundraising
with
philanthropies
and
so
on
to
to
backstop
right
the
dollars
that
we
didn't
have.
R
R
R
They
are
more
confused
than
anything
else
when
they
go
out
looking
for
those
resource,
so
I
would
validate
what
has
been
said
before
and
all
of
our
students
live
within
eight
miles
of
college,
so
they
are
the
parents
of
the
bps
students
and
they're
both
fighting
over
equipment
at
home,
they're
struggling
over
the
same
the
same
access.
So
god
forbid
anybody
turns
on
the
toaster.
R
You
know
why
the
computers
are
going
on
the
breakers
go,
it's
a
problem,
it's
a
problem
that
that
I've
been
struggling
with
and
and
all
my
colleague
college
presidents
are
struggling
with.
A
lot
of
what
has
been
built
is
built
on
campus
and
when
the
campus
closes
down,
all
the
access
is
gone.
So
there
you
are.
A
Well
well,
thank
you,
pam
and
thank
you
for
the
the
work
bunker
hill
community
college
and
roxbury
community
college
they
played
in
our
city
in
our
economy.
It's
it's
because
of
your
teachers
that
really
help
keep
boston
moving
forward.
So
thank
you
to
the
great
work
of
bunker
hill
to
roxbury
community
college
and
the
urban
college
as
well.
Could
I
next
ask
lorena
lapora
who's
the
executive
director
mass
latinos
for
education?
If
you'd
like
to
give
an
opening
statement.
P
So
I
come
to
this
testimony
with
my
personal
as
well
as
my
professional
experience
now
before
I
jump
into
my
testimony.
I
want
to
thank
tech,
goes
home
for
its
long-standing
leadership
in
the
work
of
digital
equity
and
for
continuing
to
highlight
the
systemic
issue
that
has
long
existed
prior
to
the
pandemic.
So
thank
you.
P
P
52
percent
of
caregivers
are
worried
about
income
insecurity
as
a
result
of
this
pandemic,
43
of
caregivers
shared
that
a
decline
in
mental
health
is
dramatically
impacting
their
child
and
27
percent
are
concerned
by
the
loss
of
socialization.
Their
child
is
experiencing
21
of
those
caregivers
also
identified
that
their
household
needs
needs,
help
accessing
devices
and
connectivity
in
order
to
support
their
child's
education.
P
Now
we
know
that
all
of
these
things
are
interrelated
and
I
consider
myself
privileged
I'm
adequately
resourced.
I
have
a
job.
I
speak
english
and
I
understand
the
education
system,
but
I
will
also
say
that
if
my
son
had
not
received
a
device
from
his
school
who
already
had
them
readily
available
back
in
spring,
I
would
have
had
to
purchase
one
and
that
would
have
stretched
my
family.
P
P
Many
parents
aren't
in
the
same
position
that
I
am
and
we
need
to
recognize
that.
Additionally,
as
I'm
sharing
some
of
my
personal
experiences,
even
with
access
to
high
speed
internet,
I
lose
my
connection
during
important
meetings.
I'm
surprised,
I
haven't
lost
it
during
this
one,
and
my
son
has
gotten
booted
off
of
zoom
during
his
class.
P
P
We
must
accept
that,
while
tremendous
effort
has
been
deployed
by
the
city
and
the
district,
we
must
continue
to
innovate
and
do
more.
It's
still
not
enough
I'll.
Leave
you
with
a
few
of
these
things
to
consider
the
first
is:
we
need
to
engage
the
business
community
and
corporate
partners,
we
know
many
of
them
have
devices
some
have
resources
and
many
are
ready
to
help.
P
The
city
could
use
its
convening
power
to
bring
the
private
sector
into
these
conversations
and
have
them
be
a
part
of
the
solution,
how
many
devices
are
currently
sitting
in
empty
offices?
The
second
is
that,
and
it
is
a
time
to
innovate
and
reimagine
the
future
we
want
for
our
city
and
schools.
We
must
fully
consider
the
option
of
investing
in
technology
such
as
mesh
networks.
P
There
are
cities
experimenting
with
universal
access
by
creating
mesh
wi-fi
networks
and
partnering
with
universities,
restaurants,
libraries
and
other
community
spaces
to
make
the
internet
accessible
to
all
of
its
residents.
Imagine
in
a
city
like
boston,
we
can
be
a
leader.
We
have
a
wealth
of
colleges
and
businesses
if
we
worked
with
campuses
such
as
roxbury
community
college,
wentworth,
northeastern
university,
boston,
college,
bunker,
hill,
community
college,
boston,
university.
P
The
list
goes
on
to
create
a
mesh
network
that
gave
critical
access
to
high-speed
internet
to
parts
of
boston
such
as
brighton
mission,
hill,
roxbury,
etc
long
term.
This
pandemic
has
no
doubt
made
it,
so
we
must
continue
to
fundamentally
transition
broadband
access
to
a
public
utility,
investing
in
more
fiber
optics
and
infrastructure,
so
that
the
city
can
provide
high-speed
internet
to
all
the
residents
at
a
cost
that
all
of
our
families
can
afford.
P
My
last
point
is:
we
must
listen
to
and
meet
those
who
have
long
been
underserved
by
our
systems,
because
they
have
the
solutions
that
we
need
for
our
current
problems,
growing
up
as
an
undocumented
child
in
a
household
with
limited
english
ability
gives
me
some
of
that
perspective
as
a
leader.
Now
I
constantly
ask
myself:
what
would
this
decision
this
program,
or
this
communication
mean
for
me
as
a
child,
or
for
my
parents
putting
our
most
vulnerable
residents
at
the
forefront
of
decision
making
is
vital.
P
This
requires
us
to
acknowledge
that
we
have
multilingual
speakers
in
our
city
and
that
many
don't
find
government
and
schools
accessible
to
their
working
hours
or
inviting
in
general.
We
need
to
fundamentally
change
our
business
as
usual
mentality
if
we
want
to
create
real,
lasting
change
in
boston.
A
A
S
S
We
stay
in
touch
with
the
guidance
counselors
who
send
us
students
who
are
interested
in
computer
science,
our
computer
technology
class,
where
we
bring
in
youth
throughout
the
city
of
boston
for
a
10-week
program
where
we
pay
these
teens
a
stipend
at
minimum
wage
during
the
school
year.
It's
minimum
wage
for
10
hours
a
week,
and
during
the
summer
it's
20
hours
a
week.
We
teach
them
computer
science.
We
teach
them
how
to
build
a
computer
from
scratch.
S
S
S
The
computers
that
we
receive
are
donated
from
businesses
throughout
the
city.
Tufts
medical
center
has
donated
desktops
and
laptops
when
companies
is
donating,
computers
to
us
and
small
businesses
donate
computers
and
laptops
to
us
that
we
repair
for
needy
families
throughout
the
city
of
boston,
we're
very
proud
of
this
program.
It
also
allows
our
teens
to
get
ready
for
college
when
coveted
hit.
S
This
summer,
csto
took
it
upon
themselves
to
purchase
30
computers
for
students,
because
some
were
trying
to
do
their
work
on
their
on
their
cell
phones
and
what
we
found
with
the
chromebooks.
They
do
not
have
the
capacity
that's
needed
for
the
students
to
participate
in
this
in
this
class.
So
csto
took
it
upon
themselves
to
purchase
brand
new
computers
from
dell
that
they
could
use
for
school.
S
It
can
be
used
for
the
family
also,
so
we're
very
proud
of
the
program
that
we
offer
at
castle
square
and
students
graduate
from
the
repair
side
then
they're
over
to
then
they
move
over
in
their
advance
to
go
to
the
help
desk
that
we
have
set
up
where
people
can
come
throughout
the
city
of
boston,
for
affordable
tech
support.
So
that's
what
I
wanted
to
speak
on
today.
A
Thank
you.
Thank
you
deborah.
Thank
you
deborah
for
the
work
the
castle
square
is
doing
on
these
critical
issues.
We're
going
to
open
it
up
to
questions,
maybe
I'll
start
first,
and
I
could
open
it
up
to
the
four
panelists
whoever
wants
to
jump
in,
and
I
know
all
of
you
prioritize
language
access
as
well.
It's
a
critical
part
of
your
of
your
programs.
A
Tell
me
what
the
city
could
do
to
be
more
helpful
or
what
could
the
private
sector
do
to
be
more
helpful
in
making
sure
that
english
language
learners
get
the
resources,
get
the
education
get
the
training
as
it
relates
to
digital
access,
digital
equity?
So
I'd
open
that
up
to
any
any
of
you
or
all
of
you.
Q
Yep
I
mean
I
was
just
going
to
say
one
simple
thing:
I
think
it's
going
to
be
important
to
really
interface
with
that
community
to
get
an
understanding
of
what
types
of
training
do
folks
in
that
community
need
access
to,
and
also
just
getting
feedback
from
those
folks.
I
think,
as
we've
approached
you
know
this
internally
as
a
school,
we've
really
worked
to
connect
with
families
in
the
languages
that
they
speak
again
to
get
a
deep
sense
of.
What
are
your
needs?
Q
R
Right
so
so,
mr
chair,
I
I
would
suggest
that
that
we
don't
reinvent
the
wheel,
because
right
now
there
are
multiple
programs,
both
on
the
state
and
the
municipal
level,
to
address
esl
english
learning
in
the
city
and
in
in
in
greater
boston.
The
idea,
I
think,
is
not
to
invent
yet
another
system
to
teach
the
digital
competencies,
but
maybe
to
integrate
that
into
the
existing
esl
programs.
Now
the
esl
programs
are
somewhat
fractured
somewhere
along
the
line.
R
Somebody's
got
to
have
to
do
a
landscape
analysis
of
where
those
programs
are
being
put
in
and
where
the
gaps
are,
but
I
I
would
caution
building
yet
another
very
complicated
system
to
navigate
for
folks
who
don't
speak,
the
english
language
they're
already
plugged
into
their
communities,
and
they
know
most
of
them
know
w
where
that
is
so
that
that
would
be.
That
would
be
one
approach
that
I
would
suggest.
P
Yep
yeah,
I
would
add
that
I
think
that
programs
exist
as
pam
said.
However,
I
don't
know
that
our
communication
about
sharing
out
that
these
programs
are
in
existence,
is
very
clear.
I
mean
so
I
think,
being
sure
that
we're
using
multiple
formats
for
media
right,
so
not
just
sending
the
translated
flyer
by
the
way.
P
Let's
get
professionals
translating
those
flyers,
not
just
the
group
of
volunteers,
so
I
think
making
sure
that
it's
in
various
formats
that
there's
audio
that's
being
recorded
in
multiple
languages,
that
it's
legible
in
multiple
languages,
that
there
are
videos
in
multiple
languages
and
that
we're
reaching
this
through.
You
know
in
english,
you
are
saturated
with
this
information,
you
hear
it
on
your
news.
You
hear
it
from
your
schools
in
an
email,
you
hear
it
from
the
phone
call
that
you
received.
P
You
hear
it
from
your
neighbor,
et
cetera,
et
cetera,
et
cetera,
but
in
other
languages
it's
much
more
limited,
and
so
we
need
to
be
intentional
about
the
media
resources
that
we
are
utilizing
to
make
sure
that
we're
reaching
out
to
all
of
our
communities.
Social
media
is
another
one.
The
city
has
social
media
accounts,
but
up
until
recently,
most
of
it
was
all
just
in
english
right,
and
so
we
need
to
be
intentional.
Is
this
reaching
the
most
vulnerable
people
in
our
city?
P
A
C
Yes,
thank
you
counselor
flynn.
I
do
have
some
questions
from
that.
I
wanted
to
follow
up
specifically
with
mr
lynch,
if,
if
we
could
just
kind
of
follow
up
on
something
really
quick
in
regards
to
access
and
opportunities
to
work
in
collaboration
with
some
of
the
colleges
and
the
universities,
and
maybe
private
partners
going
off
of
what
lorena
talked
about
earlier,
what
what
is
the
city
doing
to
solidify
those
partnerships
and
take
advantage
of
of
not
take
advantage
but
create
opportunities
to
work
in
partnership
with
universities
and
others?.
E
C
Yeah,
no
I'm
I'm
talking
more
specifically
well
that
those
are
great,
but
I'm
really
looking
to
see.
I'm
looking
at
bu,
I'm
looking
at
northeastern,
I'm
looking
at
suffolk,
I'm
looking
at
universities
that
exist
in
our
city
that
can
help
support,
lower
income
communities
or
other.
You
know.
You
know
colleges
in
the
city.
E
C
Okay,
okay
code,
I'm
good
for
that.
It's
just
I'm
just
thinking
about
like
ways
that
we
can
really
solidify
these
partnerships
and
also
the
private
sector
to
I'm
thinking
of
fidelity.
I'm
thinking
of
john
hancock,
I'm
thinking
about
those
folks
who
are
doing
business
in
the
city
of
boston,
that,
through
their
social
responsibility
platform
or
corporate
responsibility
platform,
there
is
an
opportunity
for
us
to
really
build
upon
that
in
ways
that
are
far
more
meaningful
than
just
opening
up
their
doors,
sporadically
for
your
events
and
things
of
that
nature.
C
So
I'll
just
plant
that
seed,
mr
lynch
and
hopefully
you
can
go
out
there
and
and
tear
down
the
systems
and
make
it
all
happen.
But
I
believe
there
is
an
opportunity
there
to
hold
them
accountable
to
that
process,
and
then
I
just
kind
of
really
want
to
talk
a
little
bit
more
about
parents
who
don't
speak
english
that
are
having
a
hard
time
on
how
to
use
technology
to
help
their
children
learn
in
class.
C
I
know
that
for
me
as
an
english
language
learner,
as
you
know,
someone
who
grew
up
with
a
mom
who
didn't
speak
english
or
she
didn't
even
my
mom,
even
struggled
learning
how
to
read
and
write
and
even
in
her
native
language.
So
I
think
that
when
we
talk
about
education
and
we
talk
about
outreach,
I
think
that
the
city-
I
would
really
look
to
the
city
to
really
look
at.
C
How
can
we
be
far
more
intentional
about
that
communication,
whether
it
be
through
the
use
of
videos,
visuals
and
because
we're
making
a
lot
of
assumptions
that
people
know
how
to
read
and
write
in
their
native
language
or
even
in
english,
for
that
matter?
So
I
just
think
it's
really
important
for
us
when
we
think
about
language
access
to
also
really
think
about
what
communication
looks
like.
So
I'm
just
curious
lorena.
C
P
And
then
you
lynch,
so
you
know,
through
our
work,
when
we
were
engaging
with
families,
we
were
really
trying
to
meet
them
where
they
were
so
looking
for
areas
that
they
were
already
congregating
virtually
right.
So
what
news
platforms
are
being
utilized?
How
was
facebook
live
being
utilized
and
then
being
able
to
provide
the
information
in
that
language?
P
So
one
of
the
things
that
we
did
was
we
started
a
weekly
facebook
live
segment
in
partnership
within
mundo,
boston,
which
reaches
obviously
residents
here
of
the
city,
but
outside
and
greater
boston
as
well
and
just
sharing
resources.
So
what
information
was
was
new
for
that
week,
because
things
were
changing
fairly
consistently
and
sharing
resources
with
phone
numbers
and
names
of
folks
that
they
could
engage
with
in
their
native
language
in
spanish.
P
Additionally,
I
think,
schools-
I
I'm
incredibly
lucky-
and
I
recognize
that
my
son
goes
to
the
hurley
school,
which
is
a
dual
language.
School
part
of
their
dna
is
to
completely
have
all
of
information
coming
out
in
english
and
spanish.
Unfortunately,
I
can't
say
the
same:
is
the
practices
for
all
of
boston,
public
schools?
Part
of
it
is
because
of
their
own
human
capital.
At
my
son's
school,
the
majority
of
folks
are
bilingual.
The
majority
of
the
teachers
are
significant
population
of
latinx
educators,
who
are
part
of
that
school
community.
P
That's
not
necessarily
the
case
for
all
schools
in
boston,
public
schools,
and
so
I
think
that
there's
a
diversity
issue
across
just
the
district,
as
well
as
just
in
general
government
that
we
need
to
that.
We
need
to
look
at,
but
my
son's
school
was
putting
out
videos
from
the
beginning
that
you
could
look
at
your
and
your
cell
phone
and
then
follow
along
to
be
able
to
engage
in
clever
or
whatever
platform
was
being
utilized,
so
that
students
could
log
in
that.
P
I
know
that
was
not
a
common
practice
for
all
schools,
and
so
there
are
incredible
bright
spots
in
our
district
and
we
need
to
highlight
them,
and
then
we
need
to
amplify
them
and
make
sure
that
they're
they're
being
used
at
scale
and
not
every
school
or
every
community
is
reinventing
the
wheel.
Thank.
E
I
was
only
going
to
mention
and,
and
david
could
add,
some
of
this
in
terms
of
the
city's
digital
platform
and
their
noise,
as
well
with
some
of
the
partners
and
tech
goes
home,
but
we
learned
a
little
bit
from
an
organization
that
the
city
does
partner
with.
That
is
english
for
new
bostonians
and
they
have
been.
How
do
I
put
this?
They
are.
E
I
think
that
folks
are
facing
right
now
you
can
mail,
a
chromebook
to
someone's
home
and
you
can
mail,
a
cable,
cable
modem
in
order
for
them
to
set
up
wi-fi,
but
someone
has
to
walk
them
through
it
in
in
this
distance,
socialing
sort
of
time
frame.
That's
one
of
the
biggest
challenges.
I
see
everybody
head
dotting
right
now.
That's
the
biggest
challenge
everybody's
facing
right
now,
not
quite
sure
how
to
proceed
with
this.
C
Okay,
thank
you
for
that.
I'm
going
to
I'm
going
to
have
one
more
question,
one
more
one
more!
I
I
think
I
do
have
time
for
one
more,
and
this
is
going
to
akeem
jackson.
I'm
just
curious:
can
you
just
talk
a
little
bit
about
how
how
how
has
the
city
reached
out
to
to
help
with
the
some
of
the
issues
that
you
identified,
especially
during
covet?
C
Q
Okay,
well,
first
and
foremost,
I
think
bps
we've
worked
very
closely
with
mark
racine,
I'm
at
bps
to
really
access
both
the
technology,
as
well
as
the
internet
resources.
I
think
we're
in
a
unique
spot
where
we
started
a
little
bit
earlier.
Our
school
at
boston,
school
started
september
1st,
and
so
we
took
a
lot
of
onus
on
our
own
to
really
get
kick-started,
just
as
things
were
kind
of
getting
underway.
Q
I
would
say
one
thing
that
kind
of
that
we
highlighted
as
we
were
kind
of
searching
out
sort
of
like
the
city-wide
access
is
really
thinking
about
those
wicked
free
hot
spots.
For
some
of
our
students.
You
know
thinking
about
sort
of
different
learning.
Styles,
even
having
the
internet,
access
in
the
home
doesn't
cater
to
their
need
to
potentially
move
around.
Some
students
have
ieps
where
they
can't
sit
in
one
space.
Q
You
know
for
the
entire
day
and
they
need
different
settings
whether
it's
you
know
in
this
context,
going
outside
going
down
the
street
to
really
create
sort
of
creative
opportunities
within
that,
and
so
I
think,
as
we
think
about
the
wicked
free
hot
spots,
I
think
that's
one
area
if
we're
able
to
expand
them.
Definitely
many
of
our
our
neighborhoods
are
sort
of
spaces
that
are
left
out.
I
think
another
thing
you
know,
as
we
think
so
like
right
now
we're
covering
the
cost,
but
I
think
sustainability-wise.
Q
You
know
we.
We
we're
gonna,
we're
fundraising
and
we're
doing
yep
wait
you're,
covering
the
cost
well
right
right
now,
we've
covered
the
cost,
not
because
bps
hasn't
been
there
because
again
we
started
a
little
bit
earlier
and
just
to
be
honest,
you
know
right
now,
what's
going
on
in
the
world,
we
really
wanted
to
take
a
stance
and
show
our
families
like
hey
we're
investing
in
you
first
and
foremost.
Yes,
we
have
the
the
support
from
bps.
I
mean
they're
doing
great
on
on
their
end.
Q
You
know
given
the
circumstances,
but
we
really
wanted
to
take
a
stance
for
our
families.
At
least
you
know,
and
you
know
initially,
but
sustainability
wise.
You
know
we're
raising.
You
know
a
lot
of
money
against
our
budget.
You
know
with
already
you
know,
having
some
other
things
that
we're
raising
money
for,
and
I
think
sustainability
wise.
It
would
be
great
to
have
you
know,
kind
of
transition
more
into
the
cities
or
bps
as
planned.
You
know
moving
forward,
but
right
now.
Yes,
we
have.
Q
C
Great,
thank
you,
and
I
just
want
to
give
a
quick
shout
out
to
tech,
goes
home
a
lot
of
the
families
that
I
work
with
have
gone
through
your
program.
Some
right
now
have
gone
through
the
program
and
now
they're
the
facilitators
of
your
program,
doing
it
in
their
native
language.
So
I
just
think
that's
great
to
see
that
I
mean
and
it's
a
model
that
definitely
needs
to
continue
to
grow
and
expand,
and
and
here
for
all
of
it.
So
thank
you
for
all
your
hard
work.
L
L
C
L
A
I
Thank
you,
mr
chairman.
Obviously
this
is
a
great
panel
and
I'm
excited
to
ask
each
of
them.
A
question
particularly
excited
to
see
president
and
dr
edinger
on
commend
her
for
the
great
work
she's
doing
over
at
bunker
hill
community
college.
I
heard
her
opening
testimony
that
she
has
16
000
students,
that's
just
tremendous,
and
I
can
only
I
can
only
imagine
some
of
the
the
issues
that
have
popped
up
due
to
due
to
kovid.
R
We
we
did
see
counselor
enrollment
drop
for
the
fall
not
the
summer
for
some
reason,
but
the
summer
has
a
different
constituents.
I
think
a
lot
of
the
students
coming
back
from
four-year
colleges
were
enrolling
with
us
to
to
do
courses
in
the
summer
to
transfer
back
to
their
four-year,
but
our
base
population
did
drop.
We
experi.
We
were
expecting
pre
previous
to
covert
about
a
six
percent
decline
because
of
the
decline
of
the
high
school
population,
but
it
turned
out.
R
It
was
double
that
for
the
fall,
and
we
do
believe
that
it
is
because
yeah
it
is
and
we're
hoping
that
it's
temporary,
that
that
it
will
come
back
up
again.
The
the
lack
of
digital
connectivity,
I
think,
has
a
lot
of
downhill
implications,
because
the
college
has
been
acting
like
a
social
hub
for
our
students,
particularly
students
from
communities
of
color
and
communities
of
high
poverty.
R
They
don't
have
the
computers
at
home.
They
don't
have
all
of
the
connections
that
they
need,
so
we
became
basically
their
hub
right.
They
came
here
for
everything:
the
food
pantry,
the
the
computers,
the
connections,
the
counseling
and
everything
else.
So
when
we
shut
down
the
middle
of
march,
we
basically
disconnected
half
of
our
communities
and
because
of
the
lack
of
digital
equipment
and
the
lack
of
broadband
in
the
lack
of
in
some.
R
So
so
the
impact
has
been
has
been
multiple.
But
if
I
were
to
find
one
lever
that
would
make
a
lot
of
this
better
is
stronger
broadband
and
better
access
to
access
food
if
they
couldn't
get
to
their
their
their
food
pantry
in
their
community,
we
actually
have
them
put
orders
via
their
smartphone
or
their
computers
into
our
food
pantry
so
that
we
can
deliver
to
them.
So
those
are
the
kind
of
connectivity
or
they
can
get
to
mental
health
counseling
with
our
college
counselor
via
that
broadband
and
digital
access.
R
I
And
you
have-
and
you
have
a
front
row
seat
for
it,
just
obviously
the
you're,
the
demographic
of
your
student
population,
plus
a
lot
of
them,
are
parents
of
boston,
public,
school
students
or
they're
coming
right
from
the
bus,
some
public
schools.
So
you
sort
of
see
what
what
I
see
as
an
at-large
council.
So
it's
exciting.
R
R
I
I
know
you
had
mentioned
you
distributed
about
700
laptops,
primarily
obviously
for
for
some
of
your
faculty
staff,
as
well
as
students
and
in
what
role,
I
often
say,
boston's
an
opportunity,
rich
in
a
resource-rich
city.
What
efforts
are
either
underway
or
can
be
put
in
place,
particularly
in
our
philanthropic
circles,
in
our
our
broader
broader-based
partners,
to
help
sort
of
in
this
sort
of
the
digital
divide
and
the
broadband
piece
that
you're
talking
about?
R
I
I
love
the
idea
of
of
going
to
my
four-year
colleagues
or
in
much
better
financial
shape
and
and
try
to
figure
out.
I
think
with
counseling
who
suggested
that
I'll
go
with
you.
It
is
the
philanthropic
community
been
very
good.
Our
foundation
has
been
excellent
and
I
know
that
the
boston
foundation
has
been
doing
a
bit
of
work,
but
it's
the
family
foundations
who've
been
really
coming
up
with
a
lot
of
the
funds
for
us
to
get
students
those
hot
spots.
R
R
I
think
it
would
be
worth
our
while
to,
as
I
said
before,
to
do
a
little
landscape
analysis
to
see
what
resources
are
coming
out
of
where
and
then
try
to
close
the
gap
in
in
a
more
we'll
say,
at
least
on
my
part,
a
more
orderly
way.
For
I
mean
we
can
we
can
use
the
city
as
the
core,
but
there's
the
rest
of
us
who's
working
on
the
parameters
and
that
kind
of
connection,
I
think,
would
help
a
great
deal.
I
would
love
to
be.
R
You
know
I
would
love
to
see
a
commission
on
this
to
focus
on
it,
so
that
we
can
we
can
draw
it
in,
and
the
other
thing
also
is
the
role
of
gateway
city.
That's
in
the
greater
boston
area.
I
know
it
doesn't
fall
into
the
budget.
You
know
parameters
of
the
city,
but
there
is
such
interactions
between,
let's
say,
boston
and
chelsea.
I
Very
good,
thank
you
very
much,
president
and
you're
in
to
direct
lopera
quick
question.
Obviously,
as
you
know,
I
was
proud
to
sign
on
to
the
letter
that
you
had
sent
over
to
destie.
I
wanted
to
that.
Your
organization,
I
should
say,
authored
what
is
what
are
the
biggest
barriers
you've
identified
for
for
our
latino
community
across
the
city.
P
P
Basic
needs
right,
so
one
of
the
pieces
that
came
out
of
our
survey
recently
was
that
52
percent
of
families
were
concerned
about
income
as
well
as
access
to
food,
so
an
additional
22.
So
a
total
74
from
worried
about
whether
they're
going
to
have
enough
money
to
put
food
on
the
table
or
stay
in
their
homes
and
how
that's
related
to
digital
equity
is
an
access.
Is
everything
is
really
kind
of
accessed
at
this
point?
P
Virtually
and
so
folks
are
concerned
about
being
able
to
meet
these
basic
needs,
but
they
also
don't
really
have
resources
to
to
be
able
to
find
support.
So
we
talked
about
the
isolation
that
families
are
experiencing
and
in
the
latino
community
they're
isolated
because
they
don't
have
their
hubs.
As
dr
edinger
mentioned,
you
know
folks
are
missing
just
their
their
communities
and
their
support
systems
when
the
latino
community
it
is
folded
and
multiplied,
because
it's
compounded
in
that
folks
also
don't
have
access
to
information
in
their
language.
P
At
least
it's
not
readily
available,
and
it's
not
available
when
other
information
goes
out,
which
causes
a
lot
of
confusion
in
the
non-english
speaking
communities.
And
so
I
would
say
that
all
of
these
pieces
are
are
big
issues
in
the
latino
community
and
all
of
it.
The
common
thread,
and
all
of
that
is
tech,
access
and
digital
connectivity.
I
I
Q
All
right
well
in
boston,
we
serve
over
2
000
students
and
families,
and
I
would
say,
first
and
foremost,
we
identified
over
250
families
that
had
either
spotty
or
no
internet
access.
So
I
think
just
direct
access
to
the
internet
is
one
and,
as
we've
engaged
in
the
partnership
with
comcast
internet
essentials,
one
thing
we've
known
is
just
that
the
process
for
some
families
is
just
very
involved
whether
it
involves
information
that
they're
either
they
don't
have
or
they're
not.
Q
You
know
able
to
provide
or
just
the
setup
process
and
so
a
couple
things
that
we've
done.
I
think
one
is
you
know:
we've
created
a
guide
that
kind
of
basically
distills
down
all
because
comcast
internet
essentials
comes
with
a
few
different
sort
of
guides
for
different
aspects,
whether
it's
the
setup
or
just
the
use,
and
so
we've
distilled
that
down
into
one
guide,
that's
been
translated.
Q
In
english,
I
mean
in
spanish,
cave
verde
and
creole
vietnamese,
all
the
languages
that
our
families
speak,
and
this
guide
is
literally
a
step-by-step
guide
from
how
to
sign
up
to
how
to
set
up
the
device
once
they
get
it.
Another
thing
that
we've
done
is
we've
set
up
our
action
teams
at
our
schools,
multilingual
action
teams
so
for
family
calls
in
spanish
or
vietnamese,
and
they
need
actual
like
walk
through
setup.
Q
We
try
to
sort
of
take
that
front
line
of
defense
to
support
before
it
gets
to
comcast's
internet
essentials,
and
so
I
would
say
those
are.
The
two
things
is
really
just
again:
baseline
access,
whether
it's
body
or
no
access
and
then
also
just
helping
families
through
the
very
involved
process
to
set
up.
S
Yes,
I'd
like
to
thank
the
city
of
boston.
Csto
received
the
digital
equity
grant
that
allowed
us
one
to
bring
more
youth
into
our
program
and
also
to
partner
with
ben
franklin
institute
of
technology,
to
provide
audio
visual
training
for
our
youth.
But
they
would
also
receive
college
credit
and
then
from
the
training
that
they
learned
at
bfit.
S
H
I
had
the
opportunity
to
work
with
debbie
bacchus
again
when
I
was
at
the
bha
and
no
know
her
work
well,
but
it's
it's
great
to
virtually
meet
you
all
and
hear
from
you.
I
think
it.
It
really
underscored
for
me
sort
of
what
we
were
talking
about
with
the
first
panel
and
obviously
president
edinger
brought
this
up,
but
just
the
fact
that,
even
if
we
solved
the
cost
piece
of
this
the
sort
of
cost
and
availability,
we
would
still
have
this
issue.
H
These
issues
around
language
access
around
support
for
seniors,
or
I
mean
we
would
just
we-
would
have
an
enormous
tech
support
ecosystem
to
build
for
equitable
access.
Even
if
we
had
the
utility
piece
solved
but
to
have
each
of
your
organizations
also
trying
to
solve
the
basic
utility
piece,
and
then
you
know
pouring
money
in
in
a
way
that
makes
a
ton
of
sense
right
now,
but
isn't
necessarily,
you
know
financially
feasible
for
your
organizations
in
the
long
term.
H
Are
there
going
to
be
bostonians
in
10
years?
Who
just
can't
access
the
internet
like
we
don't
ex?
We
don't
accept
there
being
bostonians
who
can't
access
water-
and
I
don't
know
I
just
I.
This
whole
conversation
has
really
emphasized
for
me-
the
need
for
a
for
a
phase
shift
here.
So
I
guess
that's.
You
know
more
of
a
more
of
a
point
than
a
question
to
to
do
it.
H
Is
this
right
lorena
that
that
would
be
the
kind
of
thing
we
might
do
with
like
if
a
bu
is
providing
a
big
wi-fi
network
for
its
folks,
we
would
say:
hey
well
what
about
providing
it
to
this
adjacent
housing?
And
could
we
build
off
of
the
network?
Is
that
that
the
sort
of
thing
you
were
picturing
that
counselor
mejia
was
asking
about.
P
Yes,
so
I
am
not
a
tech
expert,
but
I
have
been
reading
up
on
what
are
what
are
different
possibilities
and
also
trying
to
be
innovative,
and
so
the
idea
is
that
mesh
networks
would
extend
your
ability
to
have
access
at
different
points
without
reducing
the
capacity
or
the
capability.
And
so
my
my
point
is
it's
the
same
as
what
we're
thinking
with
wiki
wi-fi
right.
So
we
can
extend
wicked
wi-fi,
for
example,
on
city
buildings.
P
So
what
is
stopping
us
from
looking
at
partnering
with
universities
who
already
create
their
networks,
who
have
their
own
little?
Let's
say
internet
bubble,
and
how
do
we
encompass
our
residents
as
part
of
that?
I
think
especially
now,
when
not
all
students
are
on
campus
right
and
especially
knowing
that
we
have
so
many
campuses
within
our
city
limits
who
can
engage
in
helping
to
bring
a
needed
resource,
an
immediate
needed
resource
for
our
community.
H
Yes,
so
I
guess
then
I
would
just
I
guess:
I'd
ask
again
councillor
mejia's
question,
but
sort
of
with
that
particular
focus
for
david
and
for
mike,
if
he's
still
on.
Oh,
yes,
you,
I
see
you
just
like
whether
that
aspect
of
mesh
networks,
which
obviously
that's
a
that's
an
above
surface,
you
know
extending
something.
F
And
I'll
I'll
start
it
off
and
I'll
kick
it
over
to
mike.
As
far
as
I
know
we
have
not,
there
are,
there
are
pros
and
cons
to
go
into
a
fully
mesh
network.
A
lot
of
it
has
to
do
with
handing
off
of
of
of
the
traffic
from
from
one
of
those
bubbles
to
another
bubble,
and
then
a
lot
of
them
are
centered
around
privacy
concerns
as
as
you're
transmitting
all
that
information
traversing
all
of
these
different
networks.
F
E
Sorry,
that's
not
showing
up
as
bright
red
listed
thanks
for
bringing
up
counselor
very
excited
mesh
network.
If
I
could
I'll,
let
me
handle
it
with
quick,
three
anecdotes,
one,
the
team
who
are
network
managers
absolutely
freak
out
when,
when
we
ask
them
to
do
wireless
connectivity,
it
is
complicated
and
it
is
high
maintenance.
E
It's
it's
it's
a
challenge
and
b.
You
know
things
happen.
If
it
snows,
it
doesn't
work.
If
there's
a
high
wind,
it
moves
the
antenna
and
somebody's
gonna
run
up
on
the
roof
and
change.
It
now
take
the
end
use
of
the
person
in
the
apartment
we're
talking
about
reaching
people
who
are,
if
not
luddites.
They
are
naive
to
certain
technologies
and
there's
a
tremendous
challenge
to
introducing
to
them.
It
requires
a
measure
of
technical
sophistication
and
they
don't
usually
edit
and
then
my
last
one
is
we
have.
E
We
have
two
wireless
providers
in
boston
who
who
work?
Well,
I
think,
but
they
treat
different
constituencies.
The
starry
new
company
kind
of
high
tech
has
a
fairly
affordable
broadband
service,
but
it's
expensive,
but
it's
also,
as
an
engineer
would
say,
it's
elegant.
It
just
works
but
they're
taking
they're
taking
care
of
making
that
work,
and
you
have
to
buy
some
rather
expensive
equipment
to
make
it
succeed.
The
other
is
netflasia.
E
Netblazer
is
more
of
a
homegrown
community-based
provider
in
boston,
great
company,
run
by
a
couple
of
great
folks,
but
it's
challenging
for
people.
They
have
done
work
just
outside
of
dudley
square.
They've
done
work
in
madison
park,
village
they're
all
over
the
city,
but
it's
intensive
work
to
make
sure
that
the
disenfranchised
who
are
connected
have
the
right
tools
in
place.
Do
they
have
the
router?
Do
they
know
how
to
connect
it
to
their
chromebook
or
their
tablet
or
their
hotspot
if
they're
inside?
E
H
Thank
you.
Thank
you,
mr
chair
and
yeah
thanks.
I
think
there's
still
ways
you
could
sort
of
add
it
around
the
margin
for
some
of
our
cases
and,
mr
chairman,
can
I
ask
you
a
really
quick,
really
simple
question
yeah
I
just
wanted
to
check.
I
had
I've
had
constituents
reach
out
and
ask
specifically,
if
I'm
in
an
area
where
there
is
only
one
provider,
this
is
of
you
know
the
cable,
like
a
cable-based
provider,
you
know,
is
there
any
way
to
get
another,
and
I
guess
I'm
just
curious.
N
N
I
know
many
of
you
and
appreciate
the
work,
your
the
work
you
guys
are
doing
with
respect
to
our
families,
so
I
wanted
to
just
say
thank
you.
I
also-
and
this
is
less
questions
counselor
flynn,
because
I
have
to
jump
but
more
follow-up.
I
am
you
know
that
landscape
study
that
pam
was
talking
about.
There
are
so
many
resources
out
there,
but
we
often
can't
find
them.
I
think
it's
so
critically
important,
so
anything
I
can
do
to
support
that
effort
and
the
regional
approach.
It's
also
critically
important.
N
So
it
might
be
good
to
bring
them
to
the
follow-up
work
working
session
and
if
there
is
a
commission
that
is
that
we
look
to
form
with
respect
to
this
issue,
happy
to
be
a
part
of
that
as
well,
and
then
you
know
I
know
deborah
was
talking
about
be
fit.
I
was
just
talking
to
aisha
actually
recently
with
the
work
they're
doing.
There's
there's
just
so
many
folks
on
the
ground
who
are
doing
incredible
work.
The
guides
that
keem
talked
about
just
really
appreciate
the
work
you
guys
are
doing.
N
I
apologize
that
I
have
to
to
jump,
but
thank
you
so
much
councillor
flynn
and
the
makers
for
this
will
continue
to
do
my
part
in
closing
the
gap,
and
thank
you
to
all
of
you.
I
did
not
want
to
jump
without
saying
a
big.
Thank
you
to
the
work
you
guys
do
every
single
day
to
meet
the
short-term
needs
of
our
families.
So
thank
you
and
everyone
stay
safe
and
healthy.
Thank
you.
Councilor
flynn.
A
T
T
Given
the
time
constraints
in
this
hearing,
we
would
like
to
focus
on
only
two
issues.
First,
the
city
must
ensure
that
every
student
in
boston,
public
schools
have
equitable
access
to
technological
tools
for
purposes
of
remote
learning
and
second,
we
would
like
the
city
to
seriously
consider
the
provision
of
municipal
broadband
services
for
all
its
residents
as
to
the
digital
equity
in
boston,
public
schools.
The
importance
of
adequate
technological
tools
in
in
the
schools
is
paramount.
T
As
we
heard
today,
computers
and
technology
offer
an
approach
to
help
our
students
overcome
the
closure
of
their
schools.
Still
remote
learning
is
not
a
sufficient
remedy.
Unless
all
students
have
access
to
the
tools
they
need
to
participate
fully
and
equally
such
equal
access
does
not
presently
exist
and
efforts
to
provide
it
have
been
so
far
insufficient.
T
The
technological
tools
all
students
must
receive
for
remote
learning
include,
first
computers
and
tablets
with
built-in
or
external
webcams
and
microphones
internet
access.
That
is
fast
enough
for
learning
via
remote
video
meetings,
hardware
and
related
capabilities
that
are
needed
for
high-speed
internet
access
printers,
including
ink
free
access
to
remote
learning
and
communication
platforms
and
applications.
T
It's
very
important
that
all
these
issues
have
appropriate
privacy
protections
that
protect
students
and
their
families,
personal
information
and
prevent
unwarranted
sharing
of
information
with
entities
outside
the
school
districts
and
furlough
above
provide
plain
language,
english
region,
english,
written,
sorry
and
native
language,
which
is
encountered
in
the
parents
of
the
guardian
stage
of
language
materials.
So
families
can
understand
and
use
the
remote
learning
technology
tools
provided
by
schools
and
their
educational
partners.
T
Moreover,
the
city
of
boston
should
call
on
computer
hardware
software
isp
edge
private
companies
to
help
provide
the
availability
technologies
to
schools
for
free
or
on
loan,
so
that
they
can
be
distributed
to
students
in
need.
In
the
case
of
services
like
internet
access,
those
can
and
should
be
provided
directly
to
students
for
free
until
the
kobe
19
crisis
subsides
and
the
city
through
its
agencies
must
coordinate
distribution
of
physical
technology
to
ensure
the
students
who
need
the
devices
receive
them.
T
Okay,
thank
you
so
back
in
2016,
the
city
of
boston
partnered,
with
verizon
to
expand
its
fiber
object
network
to
offer
speeded
broadband
internet
service
to
the
entire
city.
However,
some
areas
of
the
city
are
still
currently
underserved
in
terms
of
internet
access,
for
example,
according
to
data
from
the
u.s
census
bureau,
in
some
parts
of
boston,
a
staggering
figure
of
30.67
of
residents,
don't
have
broadband
services
and
the
most
likely
reason
for
this
is
that
they
can't
afford
it.
T
The
city
of
boston
has
a
historic
opportunity
to
fill
this
gap
and
implement
a
municipal
broadband
service
that
provides
a
cheap,
fast,
reliable
and
universally
accessible
connection
to
all
those
who
cannot
afford
a
private
provider
across
the
country.
There
are
more
than
330
municipal
broadband
providers,
a
review
that
compared
states
with
obstacles
that
prevent
the
establishment
of
municipal
networks
against
states
without
those
same
restrictions
show
that
the
latter
enjoy
higher
access
to
low
price
broadband
plans
on
average.
T
This
means
that
municipal
broadband
services
results
in
a
more
unaffordable
and
accessible
market
here
in
massachusetts,
since
2016
more
than
a
dozen
rural
communities
have
gained
high-speed
internet
thanks
to
municipal
broadband,
and
they
were
all
very
successful.
The
pandemic
accelerated
a
digital
process
that
was
already
happening
from
shopping
to
education,
from
working
remotely
to
telemedicine.
The
use
of
online
tools
like
if
you're
conferring
video
conferencing
is
becoming
more
and
more
ubiquitous
and.
A
T
U
Yes,
hi
hello,
my
name
is
lavette
coney
and
I'm
the
president
of
mount
pleasant
forest
and
vine
neighborhood
association.
I
quickly
just
want
to
say
that
we've
always
had
problems
with
access
to
city
sponsored
meetings,
one
because
many
are
being
held
on
one
day
and
some
of
them
are
held
at
hours
and
times
that
are
not
conducive
to
people
who
work
during
the
day.
So
I'm
I'm
like.
U
I
would
like
to
advocate
times
that
would
do
that
and
allow
for
more
participation
from
many
people
which
would
be
on
the
weekends
and
evenings,
but
also
too
to
access
meetings.
We
would
need
it
to
be
put
on
social
media
and
put
on
different
platforms
so
that
everyone
was
like
the
most
broad
group
of
people
will
be
able
to
access
this
information
like
this
recording
right
now.
This
recording
today
too.
How
and
where
will
it
be
housed
so
that
people
can,
and
I
can
also
pass
it
on
to
residents.
A
Yeah,
that's
a
that's
a
good
point.
I'm
gonna
make
sure
that
my
staff,
but
also
central
staff,
coordinates
the
video
of
this
of
this
hearing.
So
at
some
time,
over
the
next
couple
of
days,
central
staff
will
put
it
out
on
the
on
social
media,
so
we'll
try
to
send
it
out
to
a
lodge
a
large
group
of
people
as
well
to
make
it
as
accessible
to
everyone
as
we
can
and
having
said
that
again,
I
want
to
say
thank
you
to
the
pianist
for
being
here.