►
Description
Docket #0221 - Hearing to discuss internet access and digital equity in the City of Boston
A
This
morning
we
are
having
a
hearing
on
docket
zero,
two
two
one
order
for
a
hearing
to
discuss:
internet
access
in
digital
equity
in
the
city
of
boston.
The
hearing
was
sponsored
by
myself,
council,
mejia
and
council
of
walk
at
this
time.
I
am
also
joined
by
my
colleagues,
councilor
flaherty
counselor
braden.
A
And
counselor
erin
murphy
as
well.
Thank
you.
This
hearing
is
being
recorded
in
live
stream
at
boston.gov,
slash
city
council
tv.
It
will
be
rebroadcast
on
comcast
channel
8,
rcn,
82
variety,
verizon
1964.,
the
zoom
link
to
provide
public
testimony
for
the
hearing
can
be
found
by
emailing
ron.cob
cobb
at
boston.gov.
A
If
you
are
unable
to
provide
public
testimony,
you
may
also
submit
written
testimony
or
a
two-minute
video
for
our
record
by
emailing
the
committee
at
ccc.cns,
boston.gov
or
filling
out
the
form
on
our
website
within
48
hours.
Following
the
hearing,
I
will
let
the
sponsors
of
the
hearing
offer
brief
remarks
then
hand
it
over
and
our
colleagues
as
well
then
hand
it
over
to
the
panelists
we'll.
We
will
also
take
public
testimony
as
well.
A
I'm
going
to
withhold
my
opening
statement
at
this
time
and
give
the
opportunity
for
council
mejia
and
councillor
barclay
co-sponsors
to
offer
an
opening
statement.
First,
so
let
me
ask
council
mejia
if
you'd
like,
to
give
an
opening
statement.
A
C
Great
good
morning,
everyone
thank
you
to
the
chair
and
to
my
co-sponsors
for
working
to
bring
this
hearing
together.
As
the
chair
of
civil
rights,
it
is
important
for
us
to
view
this
conversation
from
the
lens
of
civil
rights.
C
C
We
have
also
filed
an
ordinance
in
the
council
to
ensure
that
zoom
meetings,
which
have
been
a
pathway
to
engagement
for
communities
across
the
city,
to
continue
once
the
pandemic
restrictions
have
been
lifted,
but
we
know
that
there's
still
so
much
more.
That
needs
to
be
done.
There
are
a
lot
of.
There
are
large
pockets
of
neighborhoods
in
boston,
particularly
in
black
and
brown,
low-income
neighborhoods
that
do
not
have
access
that
they
need
in
order
to
be
online.
C
This
is
an
equity
issue
and
it's
at
the
heart
of
everything
that
we
as
a
city
should
be
moving
with,
in
terms
of
urgency,
to
make
sure
that
everyone
is
able
to
have
reliable
internet
access
as
a
right,
not
as
a
privilege.
Thank
you
so
very
much
to
the
panelists
who
are
here
today
and
thank
you
counselor
flynn,
for
your
leadership
in
the
space
and
council
lubrock
for
joining
us.
B
Thank
you
so
much,
mr
chairman,
and
to
you
and
councillor
mahia
for
co-sponsoring
with
me
on
this
I'd
strongly
echo
councillor,
mejia's
statement.
You
know
to
me
the
internet
and
really
like
strong,
reliable
broadband
access
is
a
it's
a
utility,
it's
completely
central
to
like
how
people's
lives
operate
in
the
21st
century.
The
pandemic
certainly
has
brought
that
home,
and
I
am
concerned
that
we
are.
B
You
know
that
we
are
still
sort
of
living
with
the
hangover
of
structuring
it
much
more
like
an
amenity
that
you
know,
people
with
more
money
can
get
better
access
to
and
also
where,
if
there
isn't
the
profit
motive
to
improve
the
network
in
a
part
of
the
city
that
it
just
doesn't
happen
and
to
me,
like
you
know,
I
I've
said
before
in
other
forms
like
this.
You
know
we
started
out
with
private
sewers.
We
started
out
with
private
railways.
B
We
found
out
quickly
that,
like
when
you
have
those
kinds
of
public
goods,
it
doesn't
necessarily
make
sense
to
operate
in
that
kind
of
patchwork
and
pay
to
play
sort
of
way,
and
I
just
really
think
that
we
need
to
in
boston
be
moving
aggressively
to
make
sure
that
all
of
our
citizens
have
access,
and
it
is
a
civil
rights
issue,
and
it
is
a
it's
a
fundamental
civic
democracy
issue.
B
B
I
just
think
that
that
the
internet
is
the
entrance
point
to
the
public
square
these
days,
and-
and
so
we
have
a
really
core
government
interest
in
giving
everybody
access
to
it
and
and
speed
is
a
huge
part
of
access,
and
it's
embarrassing
to
me
how
far
behind
frankly,
we
are
a
number
of
other
countries
on
this,
and
while
I
would
love
to
see
you
know
real,
like
muscular
national
action,
I
think
that
in
boston
we
have
often
had
to
be
the
ones
who
push
forward
on
conceptions
of
a
public
good
in
the
past,
so
very
eager
for
the
council
to
move
aggressively
in
this
space.
B
Also,
as
a
supporter
of
doing
a
real
study
on
you
know
the
municipal
broadband
options,
I'm
glad
that
we've
been
able
to
expand
our
dark
fiber
network
from
the
city
as
much
as
we
have,
but
I
I
think,
there's
a
lot
more
to
do
and
just
also
really
grateful
for
some
of
the
partners
on
this
call
glad
I
want
to
welcome
alex
lawrence
back
to
the
city
and
say
we're
excited
to
have
you.
B
I
know
we'll
be
hearing
from
you
in
a
minute
and
also
just
to
say
to
margaret
mckenna
who's
the
chair
of
the
human
rights
commission,
how
much
we
on
the
council
appreciate
the
fact-finding
work
and
accountability
that
that
her
commission
has
been
trying
to
bring
to
this
issue.
So
I
am
very
glad
to
be
having
this
hearing
today,
and
I
just
think
that
want
to
stress
that
it.
B
B
D
Thank
you,
council
flynn,
for
cheering
and
for
co-sponsoring
this
alongside
of
councils,
mejia
and
councilor
bach,
as
stated.
Obviously,
internet
access
and
digital
equity
are
two
huge
issues
in
the
city
of
boston
that,
as
we
know,
have
been
put
under
the
flashlight
due
to
covid
and
as
we
conduct
more
and
more
aspects
of
our
daily
lives
online,
it
is
critical
that
all
individuals
and
families
have
access
to
high
quality,
affordable
internet.
D
D
I
don't
think
that
cannot
be
solved
as
we
discuss
this
issue,
but
it's
great
to
see
them
on
and
their
willingness
to
to
partner
with
the
city
and
continue
to
power
the
city
and
look
forward
for
for
other
entities
to
to
do
the
same
and
to
step
up
and
to
help
us
as
we
try
to
solve
this
issue.
So
look
forward
to
hearing
the
testimony
and
have
questions
at
the
appropriate
time.
Mr
chair,
thank
you.
E
Thank
you.
Thank
you,
mr
chair.
I
echo
the
the
comments
of
my
colleagues
another
few
issues
that
you
know
just
to
to
put
into
the
conversation
about
how
essential
this
this
you
this.
This
should
be
like
a
public
utility
similar
to
electricity
was
and
in
days
gone
by
the
health
access
increasingly
during
the
pandemic.
E
Many
of
our
elders,
who
were
needed
to
have
internet
access
to
and
do
telemedicine
to
communicate
with
their
their
doctors,
insurance
providers
or
health
insurance
providers
are,
are
not
reimbursing
for
telephone
calls
to
do
telemedicine.
It
has
they.
They
expect
to
have
an
internet
connection
with
the
patients
so
and
also
we
find
the
whole
concern
around
education.
E
So
many
of
our
students,
not
only
in
our
secondary
primary
and
secondary
education,
but
also
in
third
level.
Education
during
the
pandemic,
were
trying
to
access
their
virtual
classroom
using
a
cell
phone,
and
it
was
a
very
unsatisfactory
way
to
to
proceed.
So
I
really
look
forward
to
the
conversation.
I
think
it's
it's
a
moment
when
we
really
have
to
step
up
and
bring
our
in
this
infrastructure
into
the
21st
century
and
so
to
allow
access
for
all
of
our
communities
to
internet.
So,
thank
you
so
much.
A
Thank
you,
council
braden
councillor,
murphy,.
F
Thank
you,
council
of
flynn,
and
this
is
my
first
committee
hearing.
So
thank
you
all
I
was
elected.
I
mean
sworn
in
last
week,
so
I'm
excited
to
be
part
of
this
conversation
and
also
echoing
a
lot
of
what
the
other
counselors
have
said,
but
knowing
as
just
leaving
the
classroom
and
being
a
classroom
teacher
through
covid.
F
Knowing
that
you
know,
internet
access
was
so
imp
important
for
everyone
and
that
many
of
our
students
across
the
city
were
unable
to
access
their
learning
with
the
remote
learning
and
the
chromebooks
and
internet
instability,
and,
like
council
braden
mentioned
many
students
having
to
go
to
work
with
their
parents
and
trying
to
do
lessons
on
a
phone
which
then
costs
their
family
money
with
data
charges
and
all
so
making
sure
that
you
know
the
internet.
Access
is
available
to
all
and
it's
equitable
and
also
the
seniors.
F
We
know
many
of
the
services
that
they
need
to
access
were,
then
they
were
expected
to
do
so
online
and
they
did
not
have
not
just
the
equipment,
but
also
the
knowledge
of
you
know
accessing
and
being
able
to
follow
through
many
of
the
steps
that
it
took
just
to
maybe
schedule
an
appointment,
or
even
we
saw
through
signing
up
for
the
vaccination
that
it
was.
You
know
not
equitable
at
all.
So
thank
you
for
having
me
here
at
this
hearing
and
I
look
forward
to
the
conversation.
A
Thank
you,
councillor,
murphy.
I
will
be
very
brief
in
my
opening
statement:
our
working
class
in
immigrant
families,
our
communities
of
color,
our
seniors
persons
with
disabilities
residents
in
boston,
housing
authority
and
public
housing.
They
need
to
have
the
same
and
equal
access
to
digital
equity,
to
the
digital
skills
as
any
wealthy
family
across
greater
boston.
A
This
is
a
civil
rights
issue
and
we
need
to
do
better
on
making
sure
that
those
without
a
voice
in
society,
including
digital
equity,
they're
heard
and
that
their
their
opinion
is
heard
and
that
they're
able
to
for
the
students
as
well
that
they're
able
to
compete
with
other
students
that
have
the
access
and
the
ability
with
the
strong
internet
city
piano.
We
have
mike
lynch
who's.
The
director
broadband
in
cable
doit
alex
lawrence
who's,
the
chief
information
officer
at
do
it.
A
Sarah
figuelara,
the
chief
of
staff
at
doing
peter
favoriti
favorito,
I'm
sorry,
digital
equity
inclusion
advocate
at
doit
in
margaret
mckenna,
chairwoman,
boston,
human
rights
commission.
I
want
to
say
thank
you
to
all
of
you.
I
know
you
provide
tremendous
leadership
on
this
issue
in
other
issues
as
well
and,
as
I
mentioned
in
my
colleagues
was
braden
mentioned
in,
I
believe,
council
bloc
and
others
mentioned
for
for
us.
A
This
is
a
civil
rights
issue,
it's
about
equal
access
and
we
want
to
especially
say
thank
you
to
margaret
mckenna
from
the
human
rights
commission
for
being
here,
providing
strong
and
positive
leadership,
I'm
proud
of
the
human
rights
commission
and
also
as
established
under
under
mayor
flynn
as
well.
So
I
just
wanted
to
point
that
out.
Let
me
let
me
start
by
asking
the
do
a
team
to
provide
an
opening
statement
and
then
we'll
get
to
margaret
mckenna.
A
I'm
not
sure
how
many
from
the
doer
team
want
to
speak
as
part
of
the
opening
statement,
but
let
me
allow
you
to
choose
among
yourself
what
what
you
guys
think
is
the
best
okay.
G
Thanks
so
much
counselor
flynn
I'll
go
ahead
and
get
us
started
and
then
turn
it
over
to
mike
lynch.
So
for
those
of
you,
I
don't
know,
I'm
alex
lawrence
and
I'm
the
interim
chief
information
officer
for
the
city's
department
of
innovation
and
technology.
This
is
day
six
on
the
job.
For
me,
I'm
so
excited
to
to
be
here
today
with
all
of
you
and
see
many
of
your
faces
again.
G
I
recently
took
a
short
11-month
hiatus
from
working
for
the
city,
but
prior
to
that
gap
I
worked
with
the
department
of
innovation
and
technology
for
almost
seven
years,
and
so
you
know
I'm
excited
here
to
talk
to
you
about
this
issue
of
critical
importance.
It's
when
I'm
deeply
and
personally
passionate
about-
and
thank
you
so
much
council
for
for
prioritizing
this
issue
and
for
inviting
us
here
today
as
you've
all
remarked
so
poignantly
already
today.
G
If
we've
learned
anything
over
the
past
two
years,
it's
that
access
to
high
quality
internet
is
core
to
how
we
create
a
more
equitable
boston.
And
you
know
in
today's
world
again
as
you've
remarked,
the
the
internet
is
as
essential
as
all
other
utilities
and
bostonians
deserve
high
quality
access
to
internet
and
the
tools
with
which
to
use
it.
G
I'm
here
with
my
top
notch
team
from
dewitt
who's
been
working
tirelessly
on
this
issue,
sort
of
throughout
the
pandemic
in
before
I'm
going
to
turn
it
over
in
a
little
bit
to
mike
lynch
who's.
As
counselor
flynn
said,
our
director
of
broadband
and
cable-
and,
I
believe,
is
a
quite
a
familiar
face.
I
think,
to
all
of
the
folks
here
today
and
he's
held
this
torch
for
a
long
time
and
is
leading
the
charge
to
move
the
city
forward
on
this
issue.
We
also
have
my
chief
of
staff.
G
Sarah
figuelora
who's
been
doing
yeoman's
work
on
getting
a
lot
of
these
initiatives
up
and
running.
She's
worked
closely
with
the
equity
cabinet
administration
and
finance
and
the
mayor's
office
to
support
the
digital
equity
fund
and
and
and
work
to
support
the
rest
of
the
work
you'll
hear
about
today.
Finally,
we
have
peter
feverito,
who
I
think
is
a
familiar
face
to
all
of
you
as
we
stole
him
from
the
council.
No
I'm
joking!
G
We
we
got
him
from
councillor
o'malley's
office
and
we're
excited
to
to
get
him
on
board,
as
our
digital
equity
and
inclusion
advocate
to
help
individual
to
help
people
of
boston
get
access
to
reliable
internet.
So
we
look
forward
to
as
councilor
box
said,
taking
concrete
action
here
with
the
council
and
thanks
for
having
us
here
and
I'll
turn
it
over
to
mike
lynch,
to
tell
you
more
about
what
we've
been
working
on.
H
And
I
think
some
of
you
may
have
seen
pieces
of
the
screen
before,
but
pardon
me
I'll
run
through
some
of
this
very
very
quickly.
These
are
the
four
things
that
we'd
like
to
touch
on
a
bit
of
an
update
on
our
broadband
digital
equity
and
inclusion,
study,
federal
support
for
broadband
and
digital
equity,
which
has
changed
enormously
in
the
last
12
months,
and
changes
in
the
new
emergency
broadband
benefit.
H
H
H
As
you
know,
in
boston.
We
have
three
main
landline.
If
you
will
provide
us,
comcast,
xfinity,
fios
by
verizon
and
rcn
boston
comcast
is
universal
to
the
city.
Fios
is
building
to
be
universal
to
the
city.
Rcn
is
unique
in
that
they
only
built
out
about
one-third
of
the
city
and
have
been
static.
At
that
point,
you
know
that
we
had
studies
from
age,
drawing
the
elderly,
commission,
boston,
public
schools
and
the
boston
housing
authority
addressing
school
children,
bha
residents,
particularly
seniors
and
vulnerable
populations.
H
I
am
hoping
we
shared
the
slides
with
the
council.
I
believe
we
did
and
I
wanted
to
acknowledge
our
equity
partners.
We
did
an
awful
lot
of
work
this
year
and
it
would
not
have
been
possible
without
the
mayor's
office
of
immigrant
advancement
and
vulnerable
citizens.
The
equity
and
inclusion
cabinet,
particularly
natasha
white,
who
has
been
extraordinarily
diligent
through
all
this
in
the
office
of
workforce
development
working
together.
H
Actually,
this
slide
is
slightly
wrong.
That
has
been
updated.
The
emergency
broadband
benefit
enrollments
in
the
city
of
boston,
is
now
at
about
20,
000
households.
That's
a
significant
jump.
Since
last
july,
the
digital
equity
fund
has
distributed
nearly
a
half
million
dollars
to
19
organizations.
H
H
This
is
the
study
of
equity
and
municipal
broadband
that
we
are
doing.
We
are
evaluating
our
current
status
kind
of
a
level
set
we're
evaluating
and
sampling
speeds
from
the
providers.
We
will
provide
a
platform.
If
you
will,
we
will
stand
up
a
test
on
boston's
website
for
people
who
are
curious
or
frustrated
with
the
speeds
they
are
getting
in
their
homes.
We
will
conduct
a
municipal,
broadband
evaluation
and
study
and
we
will
assess
the
digital
equity
inclusion
programs.
We
have
on
hand
what
should
be
improved,
what
should
be
perhaps
removed
or
revamped.
H
I'd
like
to
turn
briefly
to
sarah
figueloa,
if
she
could
touch
base
a
little
bit
here
on
the
digital
equity
fund,.
I
So
the
digital
equity
fund,
just
is
a
super
kind
of
brief
history
started
in
2018
we
were
able
to
award
35
000
to
a
non-profit
2019.
We
were
able
to
award
three
different
grants
to
three
non-profits,
because
that
amount
was
raised
to
a
hundred
thousand
dollars
shout
out
to
castle
square,
who,
I
believe,
might
be
in
this
hearing
today
and
then
in
2020.
I
I
think
we
all
know
we
had
a
lot
of
emergency
support
to
kind
of
provide,
so
in
2021
we
really
wanted
to
make
sure
that
we
were
dispersing
this
grant
money
again
and
we
worked
so
closely
with
wonderful
partners
over
at
age
strong.
They
were
able
to
contribute
150
000
of
their
of
their
funds.
We
had
a
hundred
thousand
dollars.
Ultimately,
we
worked
closely
with
the
equity
cabinet
age,
strong
and
administration
finance
gave
out
just
under
five
hundred
thousand
dollars
in
grant
money
to
19
organizations.
I
H
And
briefly,
just
touching
base
again
on
the
digital
equity
study
and
what
our
goals
are
right
now
we
are
engaging
with
the
isps
the
broadband
providers
in
boston
to
gather
data
on
their
current
systems
in
the
environment
in
all
of
boston.
We
hope
to
summarize
and
evaluate
that
right
after
the
turn
of
the
new
year
and
make
recommendations
for
expansions
and
creations
of
any
new
digital
equity
programs.
H
H
One
of
the
things
we'd
like
to
touch
base
on
a
little
bit,
of
course,
are
the
programs
that
we
currently
have
available
liquid
free
wi-fi.
Of
course
tech
goes
home
and
theo
hana
is
with
us
today.
Thank
you
very
much
city's
been
a
strong
supporter
of
tech
goes
home
for
about
10
years
now,
and
I
think
we
have
supported
them
with
about
a
million
dollars
annually,
as
the
consulate's
voted
on
that
every
year
in
the
budget
process,.
H
H
H
As
you
know,
just
last
week
the
state
has
approved
the
american
rescue
plan
act
for
massachusetts.
There's
a
tremendous
amount
of
funding
within
that
bill.
I
would
say
I
think
there
is
a
50
million
dollar
program
for
digital
equity,
within
that
it
will
be
managed
by
the
secretary
of
housing
and
economic
development.
It's
not
exactly
clear
what
that
bill
looks
like
right
now
or
how
the
city
of
boston
will
be
able
to
take
advantage
of
it.
H
Another
large
bill
is
the
infrastructure
bill.
One
of
the
challenges
to
the
infrastructure
bill
is
that
any
area,
any
geographic
area
community
that
has
available
capacity
of
25,
megabit
down
and
3
megabit
up
is
usually
not
eligible
for
many
of
the
programs
within
the
infrastructure
bill.
The
exception
to
that
is
the
emergency
broadband
benefits
successor
program
called
the
affordable
connectivity
program.
H
There
is.
This
is
very,
very
similar
to
the
emergency
broadband
benefit
we
talked
to
you
about
in
june
and
that
currently
20
000
boston
residents
are
now
signed
on
to
the
beauty
of
the
affordable
connectivity
program
is
that
they
have
raised
the
threshold
of
eligibility
from
135
percent
of
poverty
to
200
of
poverty,
of
course,
to
pay
for
that
they've
also
reduced
the
affordability
from
fifty
dollar
benefit
per
month
to
a
thirty
dollar
benefit
per
month.
H
However,
I
believe
many
of
the
providers
and
they're
with
us
here
today
will
tell
you
that
they
have
a
program
that
is
available
in
that
price
range.
This
is
just
a
little
I'm
putting
this
in
here.
Just
to
show
you
the
big
buckets,
if
you
will
that
the
infrastructure
bill
provides
money
to
and
then
touching
a
little
bit
here.
I
wonder
peter,
would
you
mind
giving
us
a
little
bit
of
a
touch
base?
J
Sure
thing
good
morning,
councillors
and
everyone
on
the
call-
thank
you
mike
basically
yeah,
so
the
those
who
are
enrolled
in
the
emergency
broadband
benefit
will,
you
can
continue
to,
they
will
automatically
be
transferred
into
the
affordable
connectivity
program
and
you
can
still
apply
for
the
emergency
broadband
benefit
through
the
end
of
february
2022..
J
Now,
as
mike
mentioned,
there
are
a
few
differences
between
the
two
programs
going
from
dollars
a
month
in
the
dis
to
thirty
dollars
a
month
in
a
discount.
Also,
there
will
be
changes
in
eligibility
requirements,
as
mike
mentioned
households
with
an
income
at
or
below
200
percent.
J
The
federal
poverty
guidelines
are
now
eligible
and
those
who
experienced
a
loss
of
income
due
to
covid19,
and
if
you
are
eligible
for
providers
covet
19
relief
program,
they
will
no
longer
be
accepted
as
eligibility
requirements
for
the
acp,
as
mentioned
you
can.
The
program
is
the
application
for
ebb,
is
still
live
through
end
of
february
2022
and
we've
seen
a
great
number
of
people
within
the
city
apply
for
it
and
receive
funding,
and
we
hope
that
the
number
continues
to
increase
as
we
go
on.
H
H
H
As
you
can
see,
one
of
the
big
challenges
we
have
with
ebb
is
is
the
application
itself.
We
talked
to.
We
talked
to
the
fcc
and
we
actually
talked
to
some
of
the
congressional
staffers
before
they
made
this
law
and
begged
it
to
make
it
a
more
simple
application.
It
is
not
it's
eight
pages.
It's
very
dense,
it's
very
challenging
for
people
who
are
in
need.
H
It
would
have
been
great
if
the
fcc
had
been
able
to
give
us
an
application
program
where
we,
the
city
or
social
service
agency
or
community
agency
or
a
school,
could
fill
the
application
out
for
a
household,
but
they
did
not
give
us
that
opportunity.
This
has
proven
to
be
one
of
the
biggest
challenges
about
this
program
and
we're
looking
for
ways
to
help
solve
that
going
forward.
H
These
are
some
more
information
and
reference
points
for
both
the
ebb
and
the
acp
program,
and
just
to
remember
just
a
note
here
again,
the
emergency
broadband
benefit,
I
think,
is
currently
serving
20
000
citizens,
just
it
was
just
below
that
at
the
end
of
november
and
comcast
essentials,
I
believe,
is
in
the
vicinity
of
20
000
households
in
boston,
and
I
think
we
can
wait
for
comcast
to
make
their
presentation,
but
they
have
increased
the
speeds
of
the
internet
essentials
in
homes.
A
Thank
you
mike
anyone
else
from
do
it
planning
to
testify,
or
should
I
go
right
to
margaret
mckenna
from
boston
human
rights
commission.
K
Thank
you,
council
flynn,
and
thank
you
to
you,
father
for
creating
this
organization
as
well,
so
we
have
been
spending
quite
a
bit
of
time.
Looking
at
the
data-
and
I
guess
one
of
the
things
I
would
say
is
I
totally
agree
there.
There
is
inequity
in
boston.
I
think
all
of
us
would
agree.
We
have
lived
it.
We
have
seen
it.
The
schools
have
seen
it.
K
I
would
not
spend
any
more
money
trying
to
prove
it
unless
I
was
going
to
sue
somebody,
so
the
consultants
that
the
city
has
hired
are
going
to
do
tests
in
25
households,
what
that
will
prove
if
there
are
25
households
that
have
differentiated
speed
and
reliability,
it
won't
prove
that
the
household
next
to
the
25
one
of
the
25
has
differentiated
speed
or
reliability.
I
wouldn't
even
bother
to
tell
you
the
truth,
because
that
won't
25
households
out
of
boston
population
will
not
give
you
an
answer
in
terms
of
boston.
K
K
I
would
just
ask
the
providers
for
the
information
they
can
tell
you
about
speed
and
reliability,
and
we
should
ask
them
for
it
now.
They've
been
asked
for
it
around.
The
country
have
not
been
very
forthcoming,
but
let's
ask
for
the
information
from
verizon
and
comcast.
Let's
ask
for
the
information
that
we
need
to
have
to
show
where
there
are
gaps
in
speed
and
reliability
around
our
city
and-
and
you
know
we
heard
about
what
I
would
say
about
municipal
broadband-
let's
not
let
the
perfect
get
in
the
way
of
the
good.
K
So
I
think
municipal
broadband
is
probably
a
great
answer,
but
it
will
take
years
and
what
I'm
looking
for-
and
I
think
we're
all
looking
for-
is
what
can
we
do
now
to
in
fact
improve
the
equity
in
boston?
And
I
think
there
are
a
number
of
things
that
we
can
do.
One
of
the
things
I
heard
about
choice
is
that
we
want
to
bring
choice,
but
there
is.
There
are
a
lot
of
places
where
there
is
not
choice.
Interesting
enough.
K
One
of
the
things
that
wasn't
mentioned
is
you
know
when
there
is
construction
for
a
big
building.
The
providers
make
exclusive
agreements
with
those
buildings
the
building.
I
live
in
as
an
exclusive
agreement
with
conquest.
When
verizon
tried
to
get
in
here
it's
almost
impossible,
it's
virtually
impossible.
So
there
is
no
competition
here
where
I
live
because
of
that,
because
they
can't
use
common,
obviously
fiber,
that's
owned
by
comcast.
So
there
are
a
lot
of
parts
of
the
city
where
the
only
provider
is
comcast.
K
There
is
no
com
competition,
so
it
it
is
continually
still
a
problem
and
something
we
should
work
on.
I
know
starry
is
now
entered
the
city
and
that's
something
else
we
should
look
at
and-
and
people
should
be
aware
of.
I
would
also
say
that,
as
you
talked
about
mike
lynch
talked
about
in
others
about
the
the
the
both
the
existing
essentials
and
the
affordable,
the
new
affordable
infrastructure
is
that
it
I'm.
I
am
pleased
to
see
there
are
20
000
households,
because
the
barrier
for
entry
is
so
difficult.
K
K
We
could,
and
I
think
we
should
take
some
of
the
money
and
use
it
for
nonprofits
to
we
have
a
language
program
in
in
the
mayor's
office
to
translate
these
and
also
nonprofits,
to
give
them
money
if
they,
if,
if
give
them
money
to
work
with
other
languages,
to
help
people
fill
these
out
and
actually
to
reach
people
and
to
get
the
word
out
more
than
it
is
in
multiple
languages
in
simple,
clear
about
what's
available
and
what
it
costs
it's
very
complicated.
K
K
I
would
also
say
the
city
has
some
opportunities
here.
Besides
municipal
broadband,
I
think
you
know
languages
is
one
and
clear
and
concise.
How
do
you
do
this
and
what
does
it
cost
public
housing?
K
Everybody
in
boston,
public
housing
is
eligible
for
these
opportunities.
Everybody
they
fit
the
criteria.
What
are
we
doing
for
them,
especially
seniors
in
public
housing,
but
everybody
in
public?
What
kind
of
program
can
we
create
that
will
get
every
one
of
our
people
in
public
housing
eligible
and
on
board
for
these
programs
they're
all
eligible
if
they're
in
public
housing
they're
eligible
in
terms
of
the
criteria?
K
So
what
are
we
doing
as
a
city
and
as
non-profits?
What
can
we
put
in
place
to
make
people
eligible?
The
other
thing
I
would
say,
and
our
new
mayor
put
this
in
her
her
literature-
is
what
about
putting
wi-fi
in
t-stops
in
bus
stops,
who
rides
buses.
K
You
know
who
rides
the
buses
now
the
buses
are
free.
What
about
putting
wi-fi
at
bus
stops?
What
about
putting
wi-fi
and
t
and
people
are
doing
this-
you
know
you.
If
you
go
to
other
countries,
you
have
free
wi-fi
and
what
about
increasing
boston-free
wi-fi,
particularly
in
places
where
we
know
the
poverty
level
is
high
and
as
we
know,
that's
where
black
and
brown
people
are
in
boston,
so
that's
public
libraries
bus
stops
public
housing
and
schools.
K
Other
public
buildings,
you
know,
I
I
think
municipal
wi-fi
is-
is
a
great
option
for
the
future
and
we
should
look
at
it,
but
we
should
not
let
that
get
in
the
way
of
a
fix.
K
Now
now
in
2022,
because
there
are
things
we
can
do
in
ways,
we
should
spend
our
money
to
close
this
gap,
because
this
affects
that
and
all
of
us
agree
affects
everything
everything,
education,
healthcare,
only
15
of
people
assessing
healthcare
are
doing
it
with
video
because
they
don't
have
it,
they
don't
have
it
or
they
can't
afford
it
to
use
their
own
phone.
So
I
don't
have
to
convince
all
of
us.
There's
nobody
in
this.
K
In
this
hearing,
that
has
to
be
convinced,
but
you
should,
but
you
should
know
there
is
a
history
of
discrimination
when,
when
fiber
was
laid,
the
first
fiber
that
was
laid
went
up
to
matapan
and
then
went
around.
It
went
around
it
because
I
suppose
people
did
not
think
that
mattapan
would
be
a
place
that
had
a
lot
of
economic
benefit.
So
there
is
a
history
here
of
of
inequity
and
it's
time
that
we
did
something
about
it
and
we
did
it
now.
K
A
Well
well,
thank
you
margaret
and
thank
you
for
your
strong
and
positive
leadership
and
you
play
a
tremendous
role.
The
human
rights
commission
plays
a
tremendous
role
in
our
city
and
just
over
the
last
several
years
you
were
you
and
the
human
rights
commission
were
involved
in
hate
crimes
against
the
82
community.
You
provided
strong
leadership
against
hate
crimes
and
also
reaching
out
to
our
immigrant
neighbors
as
well.
So
I
want
to
say
thank
you
to
the
human
rights
commission
plays
a
critical
role
in
the
city.
I
have
one
question
and
then
I'll.
A
A
A
What
are
we
going
to
do
to
make
sure
that
residents
in
the
cathedral,
public
housing,
development
and
in
other
locations
have
equal
access
to
to
digital
equity
as
along
with
say,
residents
in
chinatown
that
live
in
these
large
say,
like
the
mass
pike
towers,
they
have
been
large
buildings
that
sometimes
they
have
access
to
the
internet,
and
sometimes
they
don't.
A
Sometimes
they
only
can
have
one
person
on
at
a
time
and
then,
if
the
other
person
their
family,
also
in
public
schools
wants
to
access
it,
they
only
could
have
one
at
a
time,
so
certainly
that
immigrant
family
is
is
falling
behind.
In
that
case,
compared
to
a
wealthy
family,
say
living
in
the
back
bay
area,
so
digital
equity.
What
are
we
going
to
do
for
public
housing
residents
and
for
immigrant
families.
G
H
Sorry
wasn't
responding,
yes
counselor.
I
know
mass
piketown,
as
you
mentioned
again,
not
boston,
public
housing,
but
but
affordable
housing
and
has
a
big
problem
live
spoke
last
year
earlier
sorry,
I
spoke
this
year
to
serene
wong.
I
think
it
is
who
was
the
director
there
and
we
were.
We
were
steering
here
towards
a
company
called
netblazer
one
of
the
big
problems
they
have
for
mass
pike
towers.
I
recall,
was
it
was
very
costly
for
our
provider
to
come
in.
Some
of
them
were
unwilling
to
do
so.
H
Netblazer
has
a
unique
platform,
a
little
bit
like
the
company
that
margaret
mckenna
mentioned
starry.
They
move
from
building
to
building
using
a
direct
line
of
sight
wireless
which
usually
solves
the
problem
of
the
high
cost
of
transmission.
I'll
go
back
and
check
again
with
serene
and
see
how
their
progress
is
on
that
regarding
boston,
public
housing,
the
bha
all
of
the
bha
facilities
are
wired.
H
Question
is
who's,
taking
advantage
of
it
for
broadband
and
who
knows
that
there
are
affordable
programs
out
there
that
can
help
them
again,
as
margaret
said,
miss
as
the
slides
note.
This
is
affordable
to
all
public
housing
residents,
everybody
who
can
should
be
taking
advantage
of
it.
It
was
a
unique
problem
during
the
the
the
early
days
of
covid
people,
particularly
seniors,
were
fearful
of
letting
someone
into
their
apartment
into
their
home
in
order
to
fill
out
applications
and
stuff
like
that,
though,
those
dates
have
gone
by.
H
I
think
we're
at
a
point
now
where
we
can
expand
that
growth.
Earlier
sarah
was
talking
about
the
digital
equity
fund
last
year,
when
we
gave
out
to
19
agencies,
many
of
them
actually
bought
these
tablets
hot
spots,
lte
chromebooks
themselves.
There's
no
need
to
do
that.
I
think
we
need
these
agencies
in
their
in
their
languages
in
their
congregations
to
be
signing
people
up
for
the
affordable
connectivity
program.
It
is
a
program
that
will
give
free
broadband
to
boston
households
for
five
to
ten
years.
H
A
A
C
Thank
you,
councillor
flynn,
and
I'm
just
so
incredibly
encouraged
by
margaret's
testimony
as
always
she's
bringing
in
the
heat
and
I'm
here
for
all
of
it.
So
thank
you
margaret
for
always
showing
up
as
hard
as
you
do.
So
I
just
have
a
few
questions.
I'm
just
curious
in
regards
to
our
study
and
I
do
agree.
We
we
already
know
what
we
know
and
I
understand
the
reason
why
we're
going
with
with
a
study,
but
I'm
just
curious
as
we
continue
to
move
forward.
C
I'm
just
wondering
how
we
are
involving
other
community
members
in
this
process,
in
particular
folks,
I'm
thinking
about
I
b
e,
w
222
and
other
unions
and
workers
in
the
city
like
what
role
are
they
playing
in
informing
this
work?
And
then
I'm
just
curious?
What
programming
do
we,
as
a
city
have
to
help
assist
people
who
are
not
only
with
just
not
only
internet
access
but
internet
literacy?
You
know
how
to
how
are
we
going
about
letting
people
know
how
to
use
the
internet?
C
I
mean
you
might
think
something
as
simple
as
that
there
may
be
no
need
for
it,
but
I
know
that
there's
some
folks
who
are
just
using
whatsapp
as
a
way
to
communicate.
C
So
I
think
that
we
have
to
really
start
really
thinking
about
how
important
it
is
for
us
to
understand
that
not
everybody
knows
how
to
utilize
the
internet,
and
then
I
think,
one
of
the
things
that
I
also
would
like
to
know
a
little
bit
more
about
is
according
to
the
map
presented
on
the
boston.gov
website,
is
that
there
are
zero
wicked
y5
spots
at
matapan
in
the
south
end
and
very
few
located
across
hyde
park,
east
boston,
austin
and
brighton.
C
It
seems
like
an
easy,
short-term
solution
and
I'm
hoping
that
we
can
implement
getting
hot
spots
in
those
areas
as
well
just
curious
about
what
the
rollout
is
for
that
and
then
what
are
the
hurdles
to
getting
that
to
happen?
And
how
can
we
make
it
happen
as
soon
as
possible?
And
what
is
the
immediate
plan
to
push
for
hot
spots
in
these
locations
and
when
will
it
happen?
C
This
is
following
up
on
what
margaret
was
saying
as
well.
I
think
margaret
pointed
out
something
really
important.
There
are
long-term
advantages
to
municipal
broadband
that,
in
that
it
is
universal,
but
it
will
take.
So
it
will
take
so
long
that
there
are
very
few
immediate
solutions
by
pushing
for
that,
and
there
are
short
term
advantages
to
current
digital
equity
programs,
but
they
usually
rely
on
people
in
need
and
needing
to
request
access.
C
We
need
to
be,
as
a
council,
I
think,
unified
in
our
push
for
the
administration
to
implement
some
of
the
recommendations
that
are
coming
out
of
this
hearing
right
now,
including
expanding
wi-fi
to
access
to
t
stops
making
broadband
universal
mbha
housing
sites,
and
so
much
more.
So
I
just
kind
of
want
to
point
some
of
those
things
out
and
I'm
just
curious.
Why
we're
not
using
you
know
something
that
margaret
pointed
out
is
that
we
already
have
a
lot
of
data,
including
things
that
she
has
shared
with
us.
So
I'm
just
curious.
C
G
Yeah,
I
can
take
some
of
it
and
then
and
then
pass
some
of
it
on
to
mike.
I
think,
specifically,
you
know
to
to
your
point
counselor
mejia,
on
making
sure
that
our
money
is
going
to
the
best
possible
places
and
thinking
about
using
the
data.
You
know
it
sounds
to
me
like
what
we
have
heard
so
far
is
that
public
wi-fi
is
not
the
quality
access
that
residents
need
in
order
to
be
able
to
reliably
access
the
internet
so
happy
to
specifically
follow
up
on
that
request
with
matapan.
G
But
I
think
we're
really
trying
to
look
holistically
at
this
to
make
sure
that
that
everything
we
know
is
providing
folks
with
quality
and
reliable
access
to
internet
and
allows
them
to
do
the
kinds
of
things
that
all
of
us
expect
to
do
on
the
internet
with
privacy
and
security
and
all
of
those
things.
So
I
just
wanted
to
specifically
address
that
in
terms
of
of
wicked
free
and
then
I'll
pass
it
over
to
mike
to
address
the
other
components.
H
Thanks
alex,
yes
counselor,
I
think
we
probably
had
mentioned
it
at
our
ways
and
means
hearing
back
in
the
spring,
but
we
are
finalizing
our
big
fiber
expansion
in
the
city,
which
means
at
this
point
we're
literally
putting
switches
inside
the
buildings
that
were
remained
to
get
connected
to
the
city's
network.
When
that
happens,
our
next
step
is
to
put
an
antenna
around
the
roof
connected
to
the
basement
and
that
antenna,
depending
on
the
size
of
the
building,
will
be
a
hot
spot,
a
wikitree
wi-fi
hotspot
for
that
community.
H
The
this
has
already
happened
in
the
schools
and
in
the
libraries,
the
the
nuance,
the
the
the
challenge
was
that
when
it
happened
in
schools
and
libraries,
their
funding,
which
was
federal,
funding,
restricted
them
from
making
it
available
to
the
public
during
covid
that
changed,
I'm
not
sure
I
could
double
check
with
the
schools
and
libraries
to
see
where
they
are
and
the
status
of
that,
but
they
can
now
provide
free,
wi-fi
access
to
the
community
in
which
which
they
serve
outside
of
their
school,
something
that
was
not
available
until
I
think
six
months
ago.
H
In
addition
to
that,
I
think
angela
holmes
on
the
line
from
comcast
she'll
talk
about
a
comcast
program
called
lift
zones
which
was
directed
towards
our
community
centers
and,
I
believe,
is
well.
She
knows
the
details,
it's
in
quite
a
number
of
them.
I
think
it's
in
12,
but
I'm
not
exactly
sure.
A
What
let
me
I
know,
margaret
mckenna,
I
know
margaret
mckenna
had
her
hand
up.
K
Counselor,
then,
why
don't
we
let
the
comcast
folks
respond?
First,
okay,.
A
A
L
So
there's
been
a
lot
covered,
I'm
going
to
do
my
best
to
concisely,
touch
on
each
subject.
First,
regarding
our
network
and
the
infrastructure
of
our
network,
we
do
have
fiber
in
in
every
single
neighborhood
in
the
city
of
boston
and
augmenting.
Our
network
and
expanding
that
fiber
is,
is
just
a
part
of
our
business
as
usual.
It's
it's
part
of
our
routine
business.
L
It's
something
we're
doing
all
the
time,
but
that's
outside
of
the
main
point
that
I
want
to
talk
about
today,
which
is
our
digital
equity
initiatives
and
programs
that
we
run
out
of
comcast.
As
you
can
see
from
the
background
behind
us,
we've
been
doing
internet
essentials
now
for
10
years
and
every
time
we
are
before
the
council.
We
have
more
announcements
to
make,
and
that's
that
holds
true
today.
So
just
first,
I
want
to
touch
on
the
languages
that
we
do
offer.
So
we
have
one.
L
We
have
a
main
internet
essentials
line
that
picks
up
in
english
and
spanish.
Our
online
application
is
available
in
seven
languages.
Our
printed
material
is
available
in
15
languages
and
we
have
a
separate,
dedicated
language
line
where
you
can
access
up
to
240
languages.
So
we
we
recognize
the
need.
L
We
recognize
that
many
in
the
immigrant
community
have
a
distrust
and
a
fear
of
application
processes
and
what
it
means
to
provide
your
personal
information,
we're
aware
of
that,
we're
constantly
working
towards
making
it
a
more
comfortable
space
for
people
to
to
adopt
the
programs
that
we
have
to
offer,
and
I
think
that's
another
critical
point
that
we
have
to
make
is
the
access.
Is
there
the
infrastructure
is
there?
L
So
the
last
time
we
spoke
to
you,
we
we
mentioned
that
internet
essentials
had
been
increased
in
speed
to
50
over
five
still
at
the
9.95
a
month
that
we've
had
available
since
2011.
That
has
not
changed.
We
will
be
increasing
the
upload
speed
on
internet
essentials.
Again,
this
month
to
50
over
10.,
we've
also
noted
that
in
some
households
you
know
there
could
be
multiple
students,
and
so
we
have.
We
created
an
internet
essentials
plus
program
as
well.
That
will
be
at
100
over
10
for
29.95
a
month.
L
So
those
are
both
the
affordable
programs,
but
nothing
has
changed
about
the
9.95
a
month,
internet
essentials.
What
has
changed
due
to
the
pandemic
is
that
we
realize
that
internet
essentials
isn't
the
answer
for
everyone
or
that
not
everybody
has
adopted
it
or
is
comfortable
enough
looking
into
it,
and
so
we
created
lip
zones
and
to
that
point
mike
we're
actually
up
to
33
lyft
zones
in
the
city
of
boston.
L
We
have
partnered
with
bcyf
and
we
have,
through
our
team
over
the
last
year,
installed
incredibly
high
speed,
wi-fi
at
these
bcy
apps
centers
throughout
the
city,
we're
also
working
with
non-profits.
This
year.
To
date,
we
have
donated
722
000
to
our
non-profit
partners
that
work
in
the
digital
equity
space
that
includes
partners
like
techco's
home
we've
been
working
with
them
for
as
long
as
internet
essentials
has
been
has
been
around.
L
We've
also
expanded
the
eligibility
for
internet
essentials,
which
last
year
we
expanded
again
to
include
all
low-income
individuals.
We've
now
expanded
that
to
pell
grant
recipients.
L
If
there
are
a
number
of
ways
that
you
can
be
eligible
for
internet
essentials,
we
keep
finding
new
ways
to
connect
more
and
more
people.
On
that
note,
we
extended
our
internet
essentials
partnership
program
with
boston,
public
schools,
so
through
the
boston,
public
schools
and
with
the
help
of
mike
lynch,
we
have
an
agreement
where
boston
public
school
students
have
that
subscription
there
already
waiting
for
them.
Our
next
step
is
the
same
type
of
partnership
with
age
strong,
which
is
something
we've
been
looking
forward
to
a
long
time.
We're
very
excited
about
it.
L
I'd
love
to
get
the
ball
rolling
with
the
office
of
immigrant
advancement
or
whatever
name
that
office
becomes
moving
forward.
We
we
understand
that
there
are
pockets
of
need,
particularly
in
some
neighborhoods,
but
also
with
certain
demographics.
We
we
don't
want
to
leave
our
seniors
behind.
We
don't
want
to
leave
our
immigrants
behind
recently.
We
also
partnered
with
boston
public
schools,
parent
university,
so
you
know,
as
you
may
be
aware,
we've
been
giving
away
laptops
through
pcyf
through
bha
through
bps,
but
we
started
realizing.
L
You
know
it's
these
parents
that
also
need
the
access
there's
only
so
much
they
can
do
to
help
their
child
through
their
child's
chromebooks.
So
we
just
partnered
with
parent
university
to
give
away
500
laptops
to
parent
university
participants,
and
we
did
that
we
just
kicked
it
off
in
person
a
couple
weeks
ago
at
latin
academy.
L
So
sorry
we
have
a
few
more.
So
we
also
have
our
rise
program,
which
is
a
small
business
initiative.
You
can
apply
for
grants
and
it
works
towards
marketing
needs
and
technology
upgrades
for
small
businesses.
It
has
been
around
for
about
a
year
now
for
businesses
owned
by
people
of
color.
Last
week
we
expanded
it
to
all
women
owned
businesses
as
well.
L
This
is
us
responding
to
what
we
are
hearing
from
the
people
that
we
serve
so
we've
increased
the
speed
we've
kept
the
price
the
same,
we're
giving
you
know
we're
getting
these
devices
to
people
as
fast
as
we
can,
but
we
really
need
help
from
city
partners,
non-profit
partners,
to
help
bridge
that
gap
for
us.
What
we've
noticed
is
it's
that
next
step.
It's
I'm
too
afraid
to
give
my
information.
Oh
this.
This
sounds
too
good
to
be
true.
This
is
why
we
work
with
community
stakeholders.
Nonprofits.
L
Do
it
bps
bcyf
bha,
you
name
it.
I
could
list
the
whole
alphabet.
This
is
how
we
actually
get
to
the
people
that
need
it.
So
when
you
speak
of
of
the
immigrant
community
being
left
behind
or
seniors
needing
this,
where
we're
there
for
it
and
any
input
you
can
give
or
advice
you
can
give
us
on
how
to
reach
those
individuals
is
well
received.
L
We
are
committing
another
10
years
over
the
next
10
years.
We've
we've
named
it
project
up
internally,
where
this
is
our
number
one
priority
for
our,
for
our
efforts
outside
of
the
communities
is,
is
closing
that
digital
equity
gap.
A
C
No
I'd
like
to
give
my
time
to
margaret
mckenna,
so
I
know
that
she
had
her
hand
up
and
so
I'll
wait
to
the
second
round.
C
K
I
would
just
say
that
again,
I
know
the
concerns
about
public
wi-fi,
you
know
versus
quality
and
reliability,
but
again
I
I
urge
don't
let
the
perfect
get
in
the
way
of
the
good
or
oftentimes.
Something
is
better
than
absolutely
nothing.
So
in
terms
of
bus
stops
and
the
t,
and
all
that
I
urge
people
to
think
about
now,
rather
than
waiting.
I
don't
know
whether
it's
two
years
from
now.
The
other
thing,
I
would
say,
is
the
cities
that
have
been
successful.
K
Doing
this.
I
learned
this
when,
when
I
was
running
the
largest
foundation
in
america,
I
learned
a
hard
lesson.
That's
that
will
stick
with
me
forever,
which
is
don't
guess
what
people
need
ask
them,
and
the
cities
that
have
been
successful
in
closing
the
equity
gap
have
forged
a
coalition
of
folks,
not
just
the
city
folks,
but
community
folks,
the
city
folks
gathered
them
together.
It
doesn't
have
to
be
a
huge
group
to
to,
in
fact
direct,
so
comcast
isn't
guessing
or
going
to
six
different
people.
K
There's
a
coalition
of
people
who
say
these
are
our
top
needs,
and
this
is
what
we
need
you
to
do
now.
This
is
where
we
need
you
to
direct
the
attention
the
same
way
with
the
city
with
do
it
is
these
are
our
needs
we
need
now
I
mean
when
covid
came
along.
We
had
all
we
had
such
needs
in
terms
of
health
right
and
and
and
the
schools,
and
we
did
our
best.
There's
no
question.
People
really
worked
hard.
Don't
get
me
wrong,
but
it
seems
to
me
that
we've
got
the
mayor's
office.
K
You
know,
we've
got
the
immigrant
office
and
we've
got
the
diversity
office
and
we've
got
mike,
can
do
it
and
we've
got
comcast
trying
to
figure
it
out.
We
got
all
these
different
people
kind
of
figured
out.
K
It
seems
to
me
that
there
there
should
be
a
way
like
detroit
did
and
chattanooga
did
and
other
cities
did
that
there's
a
a
small
group
of
maybe
it's
a
city
councillor,
maybe
it's
mike
and
maybe
it's
tech
goes
home
and
and
and
you
know
maybe
it's
dcyf
or
or
a
couple
of
the
community
organizations
like
matapan.
K
Who
is
the
worst
in
terms
of
equity
to
gather
together
like
not
all
the
time,
but
you
know
once
a
quarter
and
say
here's
what
we
need
here
are
our
highest
needs
so
that
we
can
agree
on
it
rather
than
people
guessing.
You
know,
people
saying
I
think
this
would
be
the
most
important
thing.
I
think
we
have
to
decide
what's
most
important,
and
maybe
that
can
be
done
through
the
city
council
and
through
hearings,
but
I
I
just
hear
people
saying
this
is
the
most
important
thing.
K
Other
people
saying
this
is
the
most
important
thing,
the
money
that
goes
out
to
these
grants
by
the
way
from
the
city
comes
in
through
licensing.
So
this
is
like
a
city
our
city
license.
Is
these
folks,
for
you
know
public
television,
basically
not
public
television,
but
comcast
and
television
and
stuff,
so
this
money
should
be
going
out
to
to
close
the
equity
gap,
but
maybe
you
guys
have
a
better
idea,
but
how
do
we?
How
do
we
make
sure
we
are
meeting
the
highest
needs?
K
L
Directed
at
me
or
not,
we
we
work
with
a
multitude
of
nonprofits.
A
L
That
that's
it,
so
it's
it's
not
really
speaking
to
individuals.
Certainly
anytime,
a
resident
comes
up
to
me.
At
any
event,
we
do
a
lot
of
these
in-person
coffee
hours
to
try
to
promote
the
program
and
answer
any
questions
that
we
can
even
to
even
through
handholding
through
the
application
process,
but
it's
certainly
more
than
an
individual
one-to-one
conversation.
It's
it's
the
number
of
non-profits
that
we
work
with,
and
educators
and
organizations
and
associations
that
we
we
rely
on
all
of
it
ourselves
and
our
partners
to
get
this.
I.
K
Wasn't
suggesting
individuals
by
the
way
I
was
suggesting
why
we
have
a
non-profit
of
every
human
in
boston.
By
the
way
we
we
have
more
non-profits
per
person
in
boston
than
anywhere.
So
you
know.
A
Well,
thank
you.
Thank
you
angela.
Let
me
go
and
go
next
to
the
the
other
co-sponsor
council
book
for
questioning.
B
Thank
you
so
much
counselor
flynn,
I
think
chief
lawrence
was
trying
to
get
in.
So
I'm
happy
to
let
her
yeah.
A
Chief
up
you
you
can
respond,
then
I'm
going
to
go
right
back
to
council
block
I
want
to.
I
want
to
continue
with
council
colleagues,
questions.
G
Absolutely
and
I'll
make
this
very
quick.
I
just
wanted
to
offer
two
quick
points
of
clarification
and
I'm
really
excited
about
the
idea
of
creating
a
sort
of
more
streamlined
across
all
of
the
convening
power
with
folks
in
this
groom
to
figure
out
what
is
the
best
way
we
can
truly
hear
from
the
community
when
I
said
you
know
what
we've
heard.
G
I
was
specifically
referring
to
the
digital
equity
fund,
where
we
got
about
a
hundred
applications
of
folks
who
had
specific
needs
and
what
we
heard
sort
of
universally
through
those
100
applications
was
specifically
a
desire
for
in-home
high
quality
internet,
but
I
certainly
agree
with
everything
that
has
been
said
here
about
how
we
widen
the
sort
of
conversation
here
and
figure
out
the
best
way
to
reach
folks
about
what
is
available
today
and
think
sort
of
more
strategically
about
how
to
not
let
perfect
be
the
enemy,
the
good.
G
The
other
really
quick
clarification
is
that
for
the
ebb
application
we
did
have
that
translated
into
11
languages
and
it's
on
boston.gov.
So
it
is.
I
just
feel
like
that's
important
for
everyone
here
to
know.
I
think
the
question
is
really:
how
do
we
strategically
as
a
group
work
to
make
sure
that
everybody
knows
how
to
find
those
11
languages?
G
And
you
know
we
have
plenty
of
ideas
about
how
to
work
with
our
existing
community
centers
and
libraries
to
get
that
information
out,
specifically
hired
peter
with
his
deep
experience
in
community
engagement,
so
that
we
can
reach
those
communities
but
really
open
to
hearing
any
more
ways
that
we
can
get.
That
information
out
to
folks.
A
Thank
you
alex.
Let
me
go
directly
now
to
councillor
bark
council
park.
B
Thanks
so
much
counselor
flynn,
I
guess
this
is
a
question
for
it
could
be
for
mike
it
could
be
for
comcast.
But
can
you
walk
me
through,
like
you
know,
if
we're
talking
about
these
programs
that
are
at
55,
50
and
55
or
110
like
what's
the
capacity
for
fiber.
H
Okay,
angela
I'll
start
on
this
one
fiber
itself
is
probably
unlimited
in
terms
of
its
capacity.
25
3
is
the
unfortunately,
as
the
federal
or
the
national
standard.
Commissioner
rosen
warsaw,
the
new
chair.
H
She
hasn't
she
hasn't
committed
to
it,
but
I
believe
that
she
will
make
an
effort
to
rise
that
standard,
but
all
of
the
federal
programming
that
comes
in
right
now
this
year
from
the
four
different
acts
that
were
passed
in
this
year,
that
address
broadband,
all
of
them
say
a
minimum
of
twenty
five.
Three
training
fire
three
would
take
care
of
one,
maybe
two
people,
two
kids
on
zoom
classes
at
any
given
time
at
home.
After
that
it
becomes
a
bit
of
a
stretch.
H
Angela
has
said,
and
I'll
refer
to
her
in
this-
that
they
have
been
increasing
their
capacity
beyond
the
floor
of
the
federal
rules.
L
Yes,
we
have
already-
and
we
will
again
this
month
if
we
started
at
25.3,
we've
increased
twice
just
in
the
last
year
and
again,
this
is
due
to
feedback
that
we
hear
feedback
from
government
entities
or
customers
that,
in
the
feedback
is,
you
know
now
increase
the
upload.
We've
increased
the
upload,
so
it's
going
to
be
50
over
10
this
month,
which,
as
mike
mentioned,
is
above
the
federal
definition.
B
L
L
We
go
faster
than
a
gigabit
now
and
and
we're
we're
hoping
to
go
even
faster
than
that.
It's,
but
it's
is
that
necessary
for
everyone,
probably
not,
but
it's
really
up
to
the
individual
household
and
what
they
require.
B
B
It's
like
really
struggling
to
keep
up
with
where
the
internet
is
now
right.
So
I
just
think
this
is
not
a
mystery
like
we
all
know
this,
and
it's
just
obvious
that
the
programs
that
we
have
for
low-income
people
are
just
hugely
lagging.
What
people
need,
and
I
don't
think
it's
like
just
that
people
are
buying
what
they
need.
I
think
people
are
buying
what
they
can
afford
right
and
then
they're
taking
what
they
can
get
from
these
federal
programs.
B
You
couldn't
because
you
don't
have
fiver,
and
I
just
you
know
I
like
I
don't.
I
don't
see
us
getting
there
from
here
in
terms
of
like
real
digital
equity,
and
I
am
concerned
at
the
federal
level
we
are
subsidizing,
inadequate
service
and,
frankly,
like
it's,
you
know
paying
too
much
for
it
at
some
level,
some
level,
and
so
I
just
really
want
to
stress
that
I
and-
and
you
know,
and
not
for
nothing.
I
want
to
land
again
on
on
margaret's
point
like.
B
I
do
think
that
the
that
the
services
have
looked
to
have
looked
to
have
it
be
by
individual,
this
kind
of
sign
up
thing
because
it
misses
people
like,
and
you
know
we
saw
in
the
school
lunch
program
we
went
from
every
kid's
got
to
bring
in
all
their
forms
to
like,
thank
god
in
boston.
It's
just
like
you,
get
free
lunch
and
like
that's
the
way
to
actually
solve
like
child
hunger
right
and
sort
of.
B
Similarly,
I
just
feel
like
with
digital
equity,
we're
going
to
need
to
get
to
a
place
as
a
city
of
saying,
like
we're
just
raising
the
standards
across
the
whole
neighborhood.
So
I
I
I
know-
that's
not
framed
as
much
as
a
question,
mr
chairman,
but
I
just
really
want
to
strongly
enter
that
that
point
of
view
on
on
kind
of
the
field.
As
we
see
it
right
now,.
A
Thank
you.
Thank
you,
council
block,
and
I
just
want
to
remind
remind
everybody.
The
the
community
and
service
provider
piano
angela,
will
also
be
there
for
that
piano,
along
with
stephanie
lee
who's,
the
director
of
state
and
local
government
affairs
for
verizon,
along
with
theodora
hana
hanna
the
ceo
co-ceo
of
tech,
goes
home,
so
there's
also
another
opportunity.
If
we're
not
able
to
get
questions
in
at
this
time,
we'll
also
get
questions
in
at
the
next
panel.
Let
me
go
to.
Let
me
continue.
A
Moving
moving
to
my
colleague,
council
braden
had
to
step
off
for
a
hearing
for
another
meeting
council
flaherty.
D
Yes,
council
flynn-
and
if
I
just
want
to
I
just
had
a
couple,
quick
questions.
I
wanted
to
ask
whether
all
of
our
bps
schools
have
access
to
high
quality
internet.
I
I
was
under
the
understanding
that,
through
you
know,
bownet
bps
schools
were
connected
to
some
type
of
fiber
optics
network,
but
I
was
hoping
that
someone
could
speak
to
the
progress
on
that
initiative
and
also
wanted
to
ask
whether
or
not
again,
my
understanding,
many
internet
service
providers
offer
deeply
discounted
web
services.
D
H
Sure
I
could
just
address
alex
the
bonus.
Three
years
ago,
the
city
council
approved
funding
for
our
crown
castle
fiber
lease.
It
was
a
30-year
30
years
of
service
on
fiber
three
years
to
build.
We
are
coming
to
the
closing
days
of
connecting
all
schools
pretty
much
all
municipal
buildings
in
the
city
of
boston,
with
the
with
the
exception,
a
couple
of
worksheds
and
public
works
and
parks
department,
and
that
fiber
will
be
used
for
everything
we
can
make
it
possibly
be
used
for.
So
thank
you
very
much
for
that.
H
The
few
buildings
that
we
couldn't
either
afford
to
get
to
or
or
were
prohibited
under
construction
to
get
to
verizon,
came
to
the
rescue
in
their
cable
license
and
they
delivered
on
those
buildings.
I
think
there's
maybe
three
or
four
of
those
buildings
are
under
construction,
they'll
be
done
by
the
end
of
the
year
early
next
year.
That's
the
same
fiber
that
we'll
be
hanging
some
wi-fi
off
of
as
we
go
into
2022.
A
Okay,
that's
good!
I'm
gonna
go
to
counselor
murphy
next,
but
before
I
do
that
margaret
mckenna
has
her
hand
raised
margaret.
K
I
I
just
wanted
to
council
bach
asked
a
question.
I
thought
it
might
add.
One
fact
to
it,
which
is
back
bay.
02199
has
the
second
highest
course
internet
in
the
country.
Just
another
fact
it's
throw
in
here.
So
you
know
so
we
we
have
sort
of
a
an
issue
with
internet.
I'm
I'm
not
crying
for
the
02199
folks,
but
you
should
just
know
it
as
the
second
highest
cost
for
internet
in
the
country,
and
I
would
I
would
think
kenzie
we're
talking
about.
K
A
Okay,
thank
you
margaret
next,
I'd
like
to
go
to
council
murphy
for
questions.
F
I
not
really
a
question,
but
was
thinking
when
angela
was
speaking
about
all
the
different
programs
and
different
groups
that
they've
been
reaching
out
to.
I
know
during
the
height
of
you
know,
remote
learning
and
students
being
home.
Many
had
to
go
to
say
a
grandparent
or
a
family
member's
house.
So
it's
great
to
see
that
you
know
the
age
strong
and
the
seniors
are
making
sure
that
the
internet
is
in
their
homes
that
the
parents
are
also
having
access
in
the
students
too,
and
even
though
we've
returned
to
in-person
learning.
F
I
know
many
because
the
chromebooks
were,
you
know,
handed
out
that
many
teachers
are
still
expecting
students
to
do
a
lot
of
their
work
online.
So
it's
going
to
continue,
even
though
we're
back
in
person
so
just
hopeful
that
we're
going
to
continue
to
make
sure
that
wherever
students
end
up
having
to
do
their
work
and
if
it's
in
you
know
the
libraries
or
cafes
or
like
someone
mentioned
earlier,
even
the
bus
stops
and
the
t
station.
F
A
Thank
you,
council
murphy.
At
this
time
I'm
going
to
go
to
the
community
and
service
provider
piano
this
current
piano,
that's
on
you're,
more
than
welcome
to
stay
on
and
engage
in
the
conversation
if
you'd
like
and
if
you
want
to
respond
just
raise
your
hand-
and
I
will
I
will
try
to.
I
will
try
to
get
to
you.
So
I
know
we
had
a
presentation
kind
of
an
opening
statement
already
from
angela
home.
So
let
me
go
next
to
the
aurora
hannah
who's.
A
M
Hello,
everyone
thank
you
counselors
and
thank
you
in
particular
counselors
flynn,
mejia
and
bach.
I'm
theodora
hanna
co-ceo
of
teclos
home.
I
so
appreciate
the
opportunity
to
testify
today
about
the
vital
importance
of
internet
access
and
digital
equity
and
I'm
proud
to
represent
techo's
home
our
instructors
and
our
learners
today,
for
many
students,
workers
and
families
in
boston,
digital
exclusion
was
a
barrier
to
opportunity
and
success.
Long
before
covid,
the
pandemic
hasn't
created
a
new
problem
as
much
as
it
has
exposed
and
exacerbated
existing
digital
inequities.
M
Lack
of
digital
access
significantly
constrains
the
ability
of
students
to
participate
in
online
learning
and
complete
homework
of
workers
to
find
and
maintain
employment
of
seniors
to
access,
telehealth
and
other
services
of
families
to
remain
in
touch
with
loved
ones,
and
so
much
more
digital
exclusion
does
not
exist
in
a
silo.
It
is
inextricably
linked
to
racial
educational,
housing
and
economic
injustice.
M
M
We
moved
to
a
virtual
model
and
graduated
over
3
500
learners
from
our
programs
in
2020,
and
we
projected
to
exceed
that
total
by
the
end
of
2021.
as
a
result
of
their
participation
in
tgh.
Thousands
of
these
graduates
have
been
able
to
better
participate
in
school
work,
remotely
access,
critical
health
information
and
care
apply
for
unemployment
benefits
and
so
much
more
as
we
look
ahead,
not
only
at
the
future
work
for
tgh,
but
at
the
future
of
digital
equity
in
boston.
M
Kovid
19
underscored
the
persistent
barriers
to
digital
inequity
and
how
those
inequities
break
down
along
racial,
socioeconomic,
generational
and
even
neighborhood
lines.
Our
goal
must
be
to
provide
affordable,
reliable
internet
for
every
household,
in
boston,
access
to
digital
devices,
beyond
just
cell
phones
and
culturally
responsive
digital
skills
training.
M
Furthermore,
solutions
must
be
co-created
with
the
communities
to
ensure
they
are
culturally
responsive
to
the
specific
challenges
that
individuals
and
families
face
and
that
resources
and
information
reach
those
who
need
the
most.
I
love
what
you
said
earlier,
margaret
about
not
guessing
what
people
need,
but
asking
them.
M
Mayor
wu
and
the
members
of
the
city
council
have
a
vital
role
to
play.
The
ongoing
distribution
of
arpa
funding,
combined
with
additional
resources
from
the
bipartisan
infrastructure
framework
and
other
sources
creates
enormous
potential
to
invest
in
effective
solutions
to
digital
equity,
and
we
encourage
city
leaders
to
prioritize
additional
funding
for
both
the
city's
digital
equity
fund
and
related
efforts
by
community-based
organizations
to
increase
digital
access
and
help
people
advance
their
lives.
M
We
thank
councillors,
flynn
mejia
and
for
calling
this
hearing
and
all
the
members
of
the
city
council
who
have
focused
on
digital
inequity
in
our
city.
We
hope
to
see
a
robust
investment
and
a
comprehensive
citywide
strategy
for
advancing
digital
equity,
and
we
look
forward
to
supporting
and
amplifying
those
efforts.
Thank
you.
A
Thank
you.
Thank
you
theodora.
I
appreciate
your
testimony
and
also
the
incredible
work
that
tech
goes
home
does
across
our
city,
especially
our
immigrant
communities
and
communities
of
college.
So
I
want
to
say
thank
you
to
your
team
at
this
time.
I
would
ask
stephanie
lee
again
she's
with
verizon,
if
she'd
like
to
give
a
opening
statement
and
then
we'll
go
back
to
q,
a
from
council
colleagues
to
this
recent
piano
so
stephanie.
Thank
you
for
joining
us.
N
In
addition
to
that,
we
also
are
supporting
some
smart
communities
projects
that
will
hopefully
bring
some
more
innovation
and
help
the
city
of
boston
run
more
efficiently
through
the
use
of
that
innovation.
N
Thank
you
to
the
city,
council
and
all
of
the
leadership
in
the
city
for
us
to
be
able
to
talk
about
the
status
of
our
broadband
in
the
city,
but
also
what
we
are
doing
to
help
bridge
the
digital
divide
and
address
issues
of
equity.
We
do
share
with
you
those
concerns
and
recognize
that
broadband
networks
are
critical
to
our
daily
lives.
As
you
know,
we
all
not
to
reiterate
what
everyone
said.
N
For
those
reasons,
verizon
works
tirelessly
day
after
day
to
deploy,
maintain
and
upgrade
our
wireline
and
wireless
networks
to
meet
the
ever
increase
in
communications
needs
of
the
residents
and
businesses
in
boston
and
in
other
areas.
Of
course,
we've
made
a
significant
investment
in
boston
to
bring
our
fios
fiber
to
all
neighborhoods
we're
investing
600
million
dollars
to
transform
boston
into
one
of
the
most
technologically
advanced
cities
in
the
nation.
We're
deploying
100,
fiber
optic
network
for
fios,
high-speed
internet
and
tv
in
every
boston,
neighborhood,
and
that
fiber
does
go
to
every
customer
premise.
N
Fios
internet
rides,
as
I
said,
on
an
all-fiber
network
that
goes
to
each
customer
premise
in
our
our
internet.
Product
starts
at
200
over
200
megabits
per
second.
We
also
have
packages
that
exceed
gigabit
speeds.
In
addition,
boston
became
one
of
verizon's
first
5g
wireless
cities
and
we're
continuing
to
build
out
that
network
as
well.
In
the
city,
we
turned
that
on
in
2019.
N
While
we
were
building
our
network
to
bring
physical
infrastructure
and
mike
lynch
had
a
dress,
we're
still
building,
it
is
going
to
be
several
more
years.
Although
we're
ahead
of
schedule,
we
are
built
out
in
about
75
of
the
communities.
That
means
fiber
goes
by
premises
and
about
75
of
our
neighbors
can
get
actually
order
service
right
now,
but
we're
continuing
also
getting
into
some
of
the
apartment
buildings
that
we
need
access
to,
so
that
we
can
finish
those
and
then
in
the
last
neighborhoods
that
I
had
just
mentioned.
N
But
we
also
are
committed
to
digital
inclusion
issues
of
adoption
and
affordability,
which
we
know
is
critical
to
making
sure
everybody
is
able
to
take
advantage
of
the
digital
age
as
part
of
our
partnership.
Verizon
donated
a
million
dollars
to
the
boston
digital
equity
fund
to
ensure
that
the
city
could
fund
those
types
of
programs
that
will
help
with
adoption,
and
I
know
we
discussed
some
of
that
today.
N
We
also
in
the
early
days
of
the
pandemic,
when
schools
were
shuttered
immediately
worked
with
the
city
of
boston
and
the
boston
public
schools
to
provide
four
thousand
jet
packs
and
hot
spots
with
4g
lte
wireless
data
plans
to
ensure
students
that
needed
access
were
equipped
with
technology
to
keep
them
connected
to
the
classroom
virtually,
and
that
was
part
that
came
out
of
some
of
the
partnership
agreement.
N
Work
then
one
of
the
other
things
we
did
is
we
rolled
out
fios
forward,
which
allows
lifeline
eligible,
low-income
households
to
receive
a
20
discount
per
month
on
any
verizon
wireless
fios
intranet
plan.
N
This
program
means
that
people
can
purchase
200
over
200
megabit
plans
for
as
low
as
19.99
a
month
for
the
service,
with
no
data
caps,
and
then
we
also
signed
up
for
the
emergency
broadband
benefit
program,
that's
being
funded
out
of
the
arpa
funds
and
will
continue
obviously
through
the
infrastructure
bill
and
customers
can
also
get
up
to
50
a
month
subsidy
for
any
broadband
fios
broadband
service
that
they
choose
or
wireless
data
or
phone
service
that
they
choose
additionally,
to
help
address
digital
equity
verizon
in
massachusetts.
N
In
2020
invested
4.1
million
dollars
to
nonprofits
across
the
state,
but
some
of
the
nonprofits
that
we
do
work
with
that
are
focused
on
digital
equity
and
workforce
development
and
other
issues
that
help
elevate
and
help
help.
Our
most
vulnerable
communities
are
check
those
home.
We
also
support
the
boston,
public
library,
boston,
public
schools,
the
boston
private
industry
council,
the
mayor's
office
of
immigrant
advancement
in
a
myriad
of
other
non-profits
working
throughout
the
city,
and
then
we
also
created
a
verizon
digital
inclusion
initiative
for
our
wireless
broadband
services.
N
That
government
agencies,
including
cities,
as
well
as
not-for-profits,
can
make
bulk
purchases
of
service
plans
at
a
significantly
discounted
rate
and
make
that
available
to
residents
and
customers
that
that
fit
the
low
income
criteria.
N
And
then
another
thing
I
just
wanted
to
point
out.
Verizon
has
doubled
down
its
commitment
to
the
city
of
boston
and
we
just
opened
up
our
new
state-of-the-art
work
hub
at
north
station,
which
is
our
epicenter
of
verizon
research
and
development,
technology
and
innovation,
and
we
have
more
people
that
are
going
to
be
coming
into
the
city
because
we're
consolidating
other
work
locations
and,
at
some
point,
we'd
love
to
you,
know,
host
people
at
that
meeting
when
it's
a
little
bit
safer
to
do
so
as
we
work
through
the
pandemic.
N
So
just
wanted
to
share
that
we're
happy
to
collaborate.
We've
enjoyed
a
partnership
with
the
city.
We
look
forward
to
continuing
the
discussion
with
all
of
you
and
the
new
administration,
as
well
as
the
city
council
and
the
human
rights
committee,
to
help
address
the
digital
divide
in
the
city
and
beyond,
and
I'm
happy
to
answer
any
questions.
A
Thank
you
stephanie.
We
appreciate
the
work
that
you're
doing
and
thank
you
for
being
here
with
us
today.
I'm
going
to
withhold
questions
at
this
time,
but
I'm
going
to
go
right
to
my
colleagues
to
see
if
they
have
any
questions.
Let
me
start
with
counselor
mejia,
who
is
a
co-sponsor.
C
Thank
you,
counselor
flynn,
and
to
the
advocates
who
have
been
here
and
the
community
panel.
I'm
just
curious.
You
know
I
I
said
this
earlier:
it's
one
thing
for
people
to
have
access
to
the
internet
and
it's
another
thing
entirely
for
people
to
know
how
to
use
it.
So
I'm
just
curious:
what
are
we
doing
to
educate
communities
about
how
the
internet
works
and
how
they
can
use
it
in
their
daily
lives?
I'm
just
curious
about
some
of
that.
M
I'm
happy
to
jump
in
and
share
more
about
how
our
programs
work
at
tech
goes
home.
That's
helpful.
M
M
Who
are
those
disproportionately
affected
by
the
digital
divide?
And
what
we
do
is
we
train
staff
members
at
those
sites
to
become
tech,
goes
home
certified
instructors
so
that
they
offer
they
are
the
front
lines
of
our
program.
A
school
teacher,
a
librarian,
a
community
center
staff
member.
They
train
their
constituents
through
a
15-hour
digital
equity
training
program
that
is
very
much
tailored
to
the
needs
of
the
specific
people
in
the
class.
M
The
administrative
support
we
help
with
the
hardware,
the
computer
and
internet
ordering
that
sort
of
thing,
and
then
our
instructors
are
are
on
the
ground,
teaching
critical
life,
relevant
digital
skills
to
people
in
their
in
their
neighborhoods.
Essentially
so
every
household
going
through
our
program
gets
a
new
computer
gets
internet
access.
If
they
don't
have,
if
they
don't
have
a
reliable,
affordable
access
already
and
they
are,
they
are
the
judge
of
that.
M
C
A
C
Okay,
great
thank
you,
and
this
is
more
of
a
it's,
not
so
much
of
a
question,
but
it's
more
of
a
recommendation
in
terms
of
where
we
can
find
people,
and
I
always
like
to
think
about
all
these
non-traditional
spaces
and
places
where
people
usually
convene.
C
I
mean
you
would
be
surprised
to
set
up
shop
if
you
set
up
shop
at
a
barber
shop
or
a
hair
salon
or
you're
in
a
laundromat
where
we
people
are
held
hostage
for
45
minutes
to
an
hour,
because
they
can't
go
anywhere
and
I'm
just
curious.
You
know
just
something
to
think
about,
as
you
continue
to
look
at
community
engagement
and
find
spaces
and
places
where
people
aren't
connected
and
if
there's
opportunities
there
with
the
administration
or
some
of
our
community
organizations
here
to
really
think
about
outside
of
the
box.
C
In
terms
of
how
we
reach
folks,
I
think
that
that
is,
I've
always
seen
those
spaces
and
places
as
prime
locations
for
real
community
engagement
and
education
and
doing
so
in
native
languages.
C
I
think
that
that
will
also
help
in
terms
of
reaching
folks
where
they're
at
and
you
know
it's
people
might
think
that
it's
crazy,
that
I'm
asking
questions
about
how
people
access
the
internet,
because
everybody
believes
that
folks
know
how
to
use
smart
phones
but
you'd,
be
surprised
how
many
folks,
who
are
coming
here
from
third
world
countries,
or
you
know
from
other
spaces
and
places
that
don't
have
access
to
the
internet
or
or
have
never
even
had
access
to
a
computer.
C
So
while
we
can
sit
here
in
these
zooms
and
recognize
our
own
privilege,
it's
also
really
important
to
counselor
flynn's
point
of
a
lot
of
the
immigrants
that
come
here
with
interrupted
education.
Many
who
don't
know
how
to
read
and
write,
even
in
their
own
native
languages
right
so
that
education,
you
know
the
use
of
visuals
and
other
audio
ways
of
being
able
to
communicate
with
folks
are
is
just
as
equally
as
important
as
we
start
thinking
about
access
and
information
justice,
so
just
kind
of
want
to
name
that
and
put
it
out
there.
C
So
we
can
all
ponder
on
what
we
can
do
collectively
to
to
ensure
that
we
are
being
super
intentional
about
not
only
closing
the
digital
gap,
but
doing
so
in
a
way
that
leaves
no
one
behind
so
so.
Thank
you.
H
Thank
you
counselor.
I
just
wanted
to
echo
what
theo
was
saying
when
she
spoke
about
tech
goes
home.
If
anyone
checks
the
tech
goeshong.org
website,
you'll
see
that
they
are
dealing
with
12
communities
in
eastern
massachusetts
and
cities
across
the
country
on
providing
their
program
and
standing
up
so
agencies
that
are
partner
with
them
to
provide
this
training.
It's
it's
a
unique
sort
of
platform,
they've
been
working
at
it
for
about
10
years
very
very
successfully,
and
it
worked
it
started
in
boston.
H
It
continues
to
probably
I
would
guess,
there's
somewhere
around
40
to
60
agencies
in
boston
churches,
social
service
agencies,
et
cetera,
who
are
actively
involved.
They
provide
the
space
they
provide
the
instructor
for
training
and
they
provide
they
provide
the
connection
to
the
community
in
all
sorts
of
manners
and
ways
councilman.
Here
I
don't
know
if
they've
done
that,
yet
with
barber
shops
in
hassle
ones,
but
maybe
that
should
be
an
upcoming
program.
Thank
you.
Counselor.
A
Thank
you
mike
I'm
going
to
go
to
council
block,
but
before
I
do
that,
I
know.
Council
murphy
had
her
hand
up
council
murphy,
aaron
you're
on
mute.
F
I'm
here,
thank
you
so
theodore.
This
question
is
for
you
for
techosome
as
a
boston,
public
school
teacher
for
all
those
years
I
had
so
many
students
and
families
benefit
from
your
program
and
go
through
the
training
and
it
was
wonderful
to
see
and
they
had
access
to
not
just
the
technology
like
the
ipad
or
the
computer.
They
got
to
bring
home,
but
also
the
parents
really
benefited
from
that
knowledge.
So
I
do
applaud
that
program
and
I
know,
as
a
school
teacher,
there
were
one,
maybe
two.
M
Sure,
well,
first
of
all,
thank
you
so
much
for
the
kind
words
it's
great
to
hear
about
your
families.
It
has
changed
it
in
some
way.
I
would
say
yes
and
no
so,
from
our
perspective,
a
chromebook
going
to
each
student
is
fantastic
and
a
critical
part
of
the
solution.
M
But
if
you
know
the
adults
of
consequence
at
home
or
adults
in
the
home
are
unable
to
find
a
job
online
work
remotely
access,
critical
resources,
then
the
solution
for
that
household
is
obviously
not
met.
M
So
we
we
think
it's
imperative
to
make
sure
that
every
member
of
the
household
who
needs
needs
a
device
has
one
so
beyond
just
the
student,
so
that
the
whole
our
mantra
is
sort
of
support
the
family
to
support
the
student
when
talking
about
families
in
schools,
specifically
also,
we
are
aware
of
the
temporary
nature
of
the
chromebook.
So,
the
being
you
know,
the
students
having
the
students
having
ownership
temporarily
is
fantastic,
but
we're
really
looking
for
a
permanent
solution,
but
on
the
other
hand
it
has
changed.
M
Our
covet
has
changed
our
school
partnerships
a
little
bit
it.
It
has.
We've
done
a
little
bit.
Less
with
schools
in
covid
than
prior
to,
I
think
the
biggest
reason
for
that
is
probably
just
the
tremendous
barriers
and
complications
schools
have
been
facing
through
covid
how
much
they
have
been
dealing
with.
But
I
I
wonder
if
also
it's
a
little
bit,
because
at
least
at
least
the
students
got
a
chromebook.
M
So
it's
sort
of
you
know
the
the
minimum
base
is
covered,
but
yeah
we're
just
looking
to
make
sure
that
that
families
have
all
the
adequate
equipment
and
skills
and
access
they
need.
A
B
Thanks
so
much
councillor
flynn
stephanie,
I
was
wondering
if
you
could
talk
a
little
bit.
I'm
just
trying
to
understand
that
75
percent
number
is
that
75
of
neighborhoods
75
of
actual
like
premises,
and
then,
when
you
guys
lay
this
out
what
like
say
you
come
and
do
a
street
on
beacon
hill.
Do
you
lay
it
to
every
premise,
while
you're
going
up
the
core
of
the
street
and
you've,
you
know,
got
things
dug
up
and
stuff
or
or
not?
How
does
that
work.
N
Sure
good,
very
good
question
so
that
right
now
would
be
75
of
households
can
get
it,
but
there's
some
caveats
to
it.
So,
basically,
the
single
family
homes
are
a
lot
easier
to
build
to,
because
you
don't
need
actual
permission,
apartment
buildings
and
condo
complexes.
N
However,
the
caveat
is
that
there
might
be
some
apartment
buildings
that
we're
still
trying
to
get
access
to,
and
we
always
knew
that
that
would
take
longer
to
do
because
you
literally
have
to
reach
out
to
property
management
companies,
individual
owners
and
negotiate.
You
just
can't
put
your
equipment
on
their
building.
You
have
to
get
access
into
the
building,
but
if
you're
in
a
neighborhood-
and
you
live
in
a
home,
say
you're
in
dorchester
and
you
have
a
three
family.
What
would
happen?
N
Is
we
would
bring
the
fiber
to
a
hub
and
if
you
ordered
service,
then
we
would
run
that
fiber
from
the
hub
to
your
apartment,
to
your
condo
to
your
residence.
So
when
I
say
that
75
is
built,
what
I
mean
is
that
we
don't
have
75
of
the
customers,
of
course,
and
we
don't
put
equipment
on
people's
houses
unless
they
order
service
from
us.
But
all
they
have
to
do
is
order
it
because
basically
the
fiber's
right
to
the
full
outside
their
house
and
then
we
can
run
it
in.
N
No,
there
there's
diff
different
ways
to
do
it.
Sometimes
it's
aerially
to
the
house
that
you're
not
digging
up
their
their
their
yards.
At
that
point,
we
can
there's
been
some
trenching
and
thing
in
the
public
way,
of
course,
but
you're
not
digging
up
once
you're
getting
fiber
from
the
pole
or
even
in
the
underground,
if
it's
underground,
they
probably
have
handholds
so
like
lit
they're,
probably
already
set
up
there
in
their
yards
or
on
the
sidewalk,
and
you
can
serve
them
through
that.
N
So
they
would
not
be
digging
so
when
a
customer,
if
we
have
fiber
at
a
hub
in
their
neighborhood
in
your
neighborhood
and
you
call
and
order
service,
basically
the
technician
just
they
put
what's
called
a
terminal,
it's
called
an
ont,
it's
an
optical
network
terminal
and
it
basically
is
put
on
your
house
and
that's
what
the
fiber
terminates
into
and
that's
how
you
get
fiber
right
to
your
resonance,
but
no
there's,
no
digging
at
that
point.
The
dating's
done
to
build
the
network.
B
N
Inside
I've
been
working,
our
engineering
people
have
been
working
with
some
of
the
architectural
associates
in
the
neighborhood
association.
So,
and
I've
sat
in
on
some
initial
meetings.
We
didn't
just
go
into
beacon
hill,
for
example.
We
actually
had
some
meetings
and
make
sure
that
we're
complying
it
because
I
know
there's
another
layer
of
complexity
in
some
of
those
neighborhoods,
but.
B
But
I
guess
what
I'm
curious
about,
and
I
don't
know
if
you
have
insight
into
this
or
or
if
mike
does
I
mean
it
strikes
me
that
the
fact
that
you
know
75
of
households
in
the
city
in
theory
have
access
to
fios
and
yet
only
point
something
percent
of
the
folks
using
ebb
or
on
fiber
suggest
to
me
that
not
very
many
of
our
low-income
households
are
actually
getting
hooked
up
to
that
existing
fiber
network.
A
B
They
were
if
they
were
on
fiber,
then
that
would
drive
up
the
ebb
numbers
on
fiber,
so
it
seems
like,
even
though
we've
got
this
coverage
across
all
these
neighborhoods.
The
actual
connection
to
our
lower
income,
households
onto
fiber
isn't
really
happening
at
scale.
Is
what
that
that's?
What
I
deduce
from
those
numbers.
N
N
Maybe
mike
you
have
a
better
view
of
the
city,
but
people
should
be
taking
advantage
of
it
because
they,
I
think
again,
it's
probably
the
awareness
factor
and
the
adoptability
factor
that
maybe
we
all
can
work
on
a
little
bit
more
together,
because
we
do
we.
We
want
them
to
take
advantage
of
this
service.
It's
a
great
service,
it's
fiber
and
it
starts
at
200
over
200
megabits,
so
they
can
do
really
whatever
they
need
to
do.
No
matter
how
many
people
are
in
their
households.
H
Council,
I'm
not
100
sure
I
I
can
tell
you
just
a
couple
of
things.
I
think
in
one
of
the
slides
I
referenced,
the
fcc
has
put
out
a
little
bit
of
a
snapshot
on
who's
who's,
taking
advantage
of
it,
and
it
looks
like
two-thirds
of
the
households
that
take
advantage
of
the
subsidized
ebb
program
are
going
for
a
mobile
solution.
They're
going
for
a
tablet,
a
hotspot,
an
lte
enabled
chromebook
something
along
those
lines,
that's
mobile
and
with
them
we
can
make
an
assumption
that
life
is
mobile.
H
Right
people
are
at
work,
they're
at
school.
The
kids
are
staying
someplace
other
than
home
between
school
and
the
end
of
the
day,
whatever
it
is,
and
that
might
be
the
choice
you
know
so
during
their
waking
hours
they're
on
the
road
so
to
speak.
Another
thing
is
that
I
suspect,
and
I'm
not
really
sure,
but
tracfone
was
a
very
big
provider
of
lifeline
and
there
are
others
as
well
and
lifeline
was
the
telephone
service.
H
Remember
the
20
subsidized
telephone
service
that's
been
available,
for
I
think,
15
years,
that
service
is
allowed
is
given
the
opportunity
kind
of
like
a
one
check
option
if
you're
already
on
the
lifeline-
and
you
want
the
emergency
broadband
benefit.
It's
a
simple
one-step.
Yes
I'll!
Take
that
because
you've
already
gone
through
the
application
process
for
lifeline,
so
it
automatically
extends
to
the
emergency
broadband
benefit.
So
I
suspect
that
what
has
happened
is
that
wireless
providers
have
seen
this
gone
back
to
their
customers,
say:
hey
you
want
to
upgrade.
H
You
want
to
have
a
smart
plan
on
your
phone.
We
can
give
you
a
no
new
phone
and
mobile
data
plan
on
your
phone.
Just
say
yes
and
we're
done,
and
I
think
that's
probably
the
way
the
program
has
evolved.
I'm
speculating
here
and
I
don't
want
to
put
stephanie
on
the
spot.
I
have
no
idea
if
she
has
any
more
insight
so.
N
All
I
can
add
is
mike
is
right.
Companies
verizon
has
opted
into
the
ebb
also
for
wireless
data
and
voice.
So
customers,
you
can't
get
ebb
for
both
if
you're.
If
you're
a
customer,
you
have
to
make
a
choice
for
the
subsidy,
so
it
looks
like
with
the
options
people
just
depending
on
their
lifestyle
or
making
different
decisions,
and
the
only
thing
I
will
add
is
verizon
did
just
acquire
tracfone
two
weeks
ago
that
acquisition
went
through,
so
we
could
be
in
the
prepaid
value.
N
B
B
It
tells
me
that
there's
a
huge
gap
in
who's
actually
accessing
the
stuff.
That's
really
built
for
the
modern
internet
economy,
and
I
just
I
feel
like
we're
going
to
get
trapped,
and
I
and
I
want
to
land
on
what
alex
said
about
the
idea
that
when
we
actually
hear
from
people
this
at
home
internet
is
key,
and
I
just
think
I
mean
yes,
we
should
have
great
wi-fi
all
over
the
public
spaces.
That's
important
but
like
we
all
know
that
I
mean
we've
like
you
can't
take
this.
I
can't
go.
B
If
I
do,
then
it's
a
it's
a
circus
right
like,
and
I
think,
we've
all
had
the
experience
of
needing
to
be
able
to
control
like
have
a
controlled
space
that
we
have
high
quality
access
to
in
order
to
hold
down
jobs
and
schooling,
and
I
just
I
just
really
want
to
enter
my
concern
that
that
we
can't
get
there
from
here
on
the
kind
of
set
of
programs
that
we've
got
at
the
speeds
that
we're
offering
them
at.
So,
mr
chairman,
that's
that's
my
that's.
My
main
comment
on
that.
A
A
C
C
I
shared
the
rally,
call
call
in
terms
of
what
we
need
to
do
next
moving
forward
and
just
really
incredibly
encouraged
by
the
dialogue
that
we
had
here
today,
and
I
think
that
margaret
was
really
instrumental
in
in
helping
us
ground
this
conversation
in
the
sense
of
urgency
in
which
we
need
to
move
in
so
looking
forward
to
not
only
continuing
the
conversation
but
actually
putting
together
an
action
plan
with
measurable
outcomes
that
we
can
hold
ourselves
accountable
to,
as
we
continue
to
move
forward.
C
Thank
you,
counselor
flynn,
for
your
leadership
and
for
being
such
a
fierce
advocate
when
it
comes
to
all
things
dealing
with
our
immigrant
communities
and
equity
and
council
labor,
for
always
bringing
all
the
great
questions.
I'm
surprised,
you
didn't
have
a
powerpoint
presentation
for
us
today,
but
really
grateful
that
we
get
to
do
this
in
partnership
and
happy
to
see
my
colleague
murphy
in
her
first
hearing
and
doing
so
and
something
that
I
know
that
she
deeply
cares
about.
So
thank
you
all
and
that's
it
for
me.
Thank
you.
A
Thank
you,
councillor
mejia
and
after
we
do
council
block
and
council
murphy,
I'm
going
to
also
check
to
see
if
there's
any
public
testimony.
So
having
said
that,
let
me
go
to
council
block
who's.
The
co-chair
of
this
hearing.
Thank
you,
council
block
and
thank
you
for
your
leadership
on
this
important
issue.
B
Thank
you,
chairman
flynn,
and
and
yeah
thanks
thanks
to
you
and
to
counselor
mejia
for
co-sponsoring.
I
think
like
we
all.
We
all
see
this
thing
from
different
angles,
but
it's
just
so
clearly,
one
of
the
biggest
equity
and
access
issues
in
our
city-
and
I
just
really
want
to
stress,
like
I
think
it's
a
it's
both
about
equity,
giving
everyone.
B
You
know
giving
everyone
access,
no
matter
what
neighborhood
they
live
in,
no
matter
what
their
income
is,
whether
in
bha,
housing
or
whatever,
but
it's
also
about
rise
raising
the
overall
level
right,
I
mean
what
I
talked
about
at
the
start
is
that
there
are
just
like
there
are
other
cities
around
the
world
where
the
average
internet
access
is
just
way
better,
and
I
I
feel
like
we're
sort
of
stuck
in
this
uncanny
valley,
where
it's
like
too
expensive
and
also
not
good
enough
and
and-
and
I
say
that,
with
due
respect
to
the
providers
who
I
think
like
have
talked
today
about
a
lot
of
the
efforts
that
you're
making.
B
I
just
sort
of
feel
like
we're
kind
of
trapped
in
this
crux,
where
I
don't
see
the
highest
quality
access.
That's
going
to
allow
people
to
really
participate
in
the
21st
century
economy
getting
out
across
the
city
in
the
way
that
it
needs
to.
So
I
think
that
when
you
know
you
have
something
that
becomes
like
a
utility
like
this
and
the
city
sort
of
sees
the
way
in
which
the
private
patchwork
isn't
getting
there
like.
B
It
means
that
there's
a
need
for
a
more
muscular,
more
robust
public
role,
and
that's
something
that
you
know,
I'm
hoping
that
the
city
of
boston
is
gonna
grab
by
the
horns
and
really,
like
you
know,
take
action,
steps
on
in
in
the
coming
months
and
and
year,
so
definitely
looking
to
partner
with
do
it
on
this
and
with
my
co-sponsors,
and
I
just
I
just
think
that
this
is
a
to
me.
B
This
is
a
hundred
year
issue
and
and
when
you
look
at
it
in
that
scale,
then
nothing
that's
sort
of
hard
or
expensive
or
tricky
for
us
to
figure
out
right
now
is
not
worth
doing
so.
I
just
I
just
really
want
to
stress
that
this
to
me
is
the
beginning
of
a
conversation
and
again
grateful
to
everyone's
partnership,
and
yes,
also
great
to
be
on
a
hearing
with
councillor
murphy,
who
were
thrilled
to
have
bringing
us
up
to
full
strength
here
on
the
council.
So
thank
you,
mr
chair.
F
Hi,
so
thank
you,
everyone
and
thank
you
to
all
my
colleagues
for
their
leadership
on
this
very
important
issue,
and
I
just
want
to
quickly
just
say
you
know
I
do
believe
it's
our
job
to
make
sure
that
we're
not
leaving
any
neighborhood
any
individuals.
Anyone
behind
as
we
move
forward
and
this
digital
divide
can't
just
keep
growing
deeper.
So
I
look
forward
to
this
continued
conversation
and
making
sure
that
we're
working
together
and
making
sure
we're
coming
up
with
some
great
solutions
so
that
everyone
has
access
to.
F
A
N
A
Counselor,
if
they
raise
their
hand,
kerry,
can
just
move
him
over
okay,
if,
if
people
that
want
to
testify,
if
you
want
to
raise
your
hand,
please
raise
your
hand
now,
and
we
will
get
to
you
for
public
testimony.
A
Okay,
okay!
Well
at
this
time,
I
want
to
say
thank
you
to
to
ron
and
kerry
from
central
staff
and
shane
also
as
well
from
central
staff.
They
did
an
outstanding
job.
I
want
to
say
thank
you
to
the
mayor's
office
for
working
closely
with
us
on
this
important
issue.
I
know
this
was
also
an
important
issue.
Counselor
wu
now
mayor
will
focus
on
as
a
city
councilor,
and
I
know
she'll
continue
to
work
closely
with
the
council
in
expanding
digital
equity
for
all
of
the
residents
across
the
city.
A
I
also
want
to
thank
my
the
administration
staff
for
being
here
from
the
from
the
dewety
mike
lynch
alex
lawrence,
sarah
figuelara
peter
favoriti
favorito,
and
also
from
the
boston
human
rights
commission.
Margaret
mckenna,
thank
you
for
being
here.
The
community
and
service
provider
panel
was
also
excellent.
I
want
to
thank
them,
including
theodora
hannah
from
teco's
home.
They
do
incredible
work
in
our
city,
stephanie
lee
from
verizon
in
angela
home
from
comcast.