Philadelphia pushes for low-cost Wi-Fi for its poorest residents

Of Philadelphia's 1.5 million residents, 23% live below the national poverty threshold. Over the years the city has tried numerous initiatives and programs that support improvements in education, employment, health and other life opportunities.

Its latest effort is Wireless Philadelphia, a nonprofit organization started in 2005 by the office of the city's mayor, John Street. The initiative's mission is to help Philadelphia neighborhoods gain high-speed Internet access through an affordable digital-inclusion program that helps economically disadvantaged citizens -- as well as businesses, schools and community organizations that are not online -- get connected with hardware, software, technical support and training and wireless broadband Internet service.

"We have learned through research that a lack of Internet technology is the basis for the digital divide," says Greg Goldman, Wireless Philadelphia's CEO. "We don't expect Internet access alone to be the panacea for all the social problems and challenges that the city faces as we look to the future. But by the same token, we know that people depend on access to information and employment opportunities and educational options in today's world."

"This technology has huge potential to really level the playing field in Philadelphia. With access to technology [people] have more options and access to more content," says Sallie A. Glickman, CEO of the Philadelphia Workforce Investment Board, an organization that released a study earlier this year about the state of city workers. "Technology is a great leveler; especially with content for distance learning now available. Skills could be delivered through the Internet," she says.

The study found that although educated workers are driving Philadelphia's renaissance, 60% of the city's adult population have low levels of literacy, and more than 80,000 residents between the ages of 25 and 45 have enrolled in a college but never graduated. In addition, according to the report, a significant portion of Philadelphia's population is isolated geographically from work locations and can't access the online educational and employment resources that could connect them to a job.

"There is not one solution or one group that owns the solution, but clearly, with Wireless Philadelphia, [a solution] is more possible. [The technology] provides a host of potential," Glickman says.