Closing the Public Internet Access Gap

(1)

Jon Walton

Chief Information Officer

County of San Mateo, California

Information Services Department

1

Closing the Public

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2

What are the digital divide challenges?

• Accurate data of broadband adoption (FCC inaccurate)

• Some urban areas lack of broadband infrastructure

• Rural areas with broadband or wireless infrastructure

• Costly fiber broadband infrastructure construction

• Spotty cellular carrier coverage in urban region

• Poor or no cellular carrier cover in rural region

• Economic barriers for individuals and families to get connected and

(3)

3

History and Success of the

SMC Public Wi- Fi Project

Results

• 100+ Wi-Fi Sites

• 1,000,000 + user hours

per month

• 150,000 users annually

• 10+ year list of site

expansion requests

• Great public acceptance

and support

Purpose

• Create Wi-Fi hotspots

in public areas to

enhance public access

to online information

• Economic zone

enhancer for small

business and events

• External in public

spaces. Internal in

County buildings

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… And then COVID-19 happened …

Distance Leaning Needs Exploded

With students having to shelter in place, education moved online “overnight”. We immediately saw huge issues with no connectivity or limited bandwidth that caused problems. School can provide devices but connectivity is challenging.

Government and School Went “Online”

The pandemic has dramatically accelerated the county, cities, schools, and NGO’s move to online services putting pressure on institutions to provide workers better connectivity and tools for online work.

Health Care and Tele-Health

Health care organizations and health care partners needed to envision new ways to provide health care to the public with new applications which require better connectivity and increased bandwidth

Connectivity

Connectivity is a basic digital prerequisite. Even in Silicon Valley, a large population of citizens don’t have adequate online access. Wi-Fi is good but has limited range. Other connectivity options are needed – LTE, CBRS, Community Networks

People and Mobility Patterns

Limited awareness of how people move in areas creates challenges when providing services and solving connectivity problems. We don’t sit at home in front of PC’s. We are mobile.

New Technology is needed

New applications and solutions are needed to provide better seamless service now in the “new normal” of social

distancing. Data needs to be aggregated and analyzed in order to make good decisions.

4

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Public Access to Internet Issue Area – Distance Learning

Urban

• Sequoia Unified School District

• 2,000 students with no Internet and

1,300 hotspots issued

• 279 hotspots with bad coverage • School District with 10K students

– 20% of households have no Internet – FCC Digital Divide of 89% inaccurate

• Mobile coverage spotty and poor

Rural

• Town of Pescadero, population 600+ • First Wi-Fi site, heaviest county usage • 3,000+ users monthly

• Broadband line costly at $99K one time • Poor or no cellular reception

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Where do we go from here?

• Bridging the divide benevolence

• How do we partner

• Mashup of ideas and resources

• Collaboration and cooperation

• Contributions

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The County aggregated Digital Divide data for 23 Districts

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Two pilot school districts selected for testing technology and

approaches to reducing the digital divide challenges of

students and families

• Insert LHP graphic here

(include # of students with

need)

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Options for Connecting Students in San Mateo County

Xfinity Internet @ Home Cellular Internet Service Extend SMC Public Wi-Fi Portable Internet Towers Comcast Internet Essentials

service to qualifying families in

Comcast service areas. One home covered.

Internet service supplied by Mobile Access Points from providers like T-Mobile and AT&T

Expand SMC Public Wi-Fi coverage to neighborhoods with large

numbers of students. Multiple homes covered.

Portable Wi-Fi towers for areas with dispersed students, tough

terrain, low infrastructure. Multiple homes covered.

Pros

• Fast deployment (< 2 weeks) • Low user cost ($10/month) • Good speed and high data cap • Service support by Comcast

Cons

• Qualified families only • Participation concerns • Not all areas have Comcast • Limited adoption metrics

(outreach, trust, qualifications)

Pros

• Fast deployment

• Most students live in coverage areas

• Take it where you go • Support by cell providers

Cons

• Potential data usage caps • High hardware cost

• High cost per user

• Limited adoption metrics ???

Pros

• Use existing infrastructure • No user costs

• Cost effective for high density areas

• Adoption metrics are high

Cons

• Longer deployment times • High setup/install upfront costs • Permits and use agreements • Ongoing maintenance costs

Pros

• Fast deployment • No user costs

• Placement flexibility • Mobile & re-deployable

Cons

• High onetime costs • Maintenance costs

• Support complexity (refueling..)

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Option One: Xfinity Internet @ Home

Comcast Internet Essentials service is available to qualifying families in Comcast

service areas. Internet service is provided directly to the home. Access to the Internet is open to everyone (not just students) in the household. Up to 25+ users (or devices) can be connected. 10 Mbps broadband service. This option connects one household to the Internet.

Select

this

option if:

Do not

select this

option if:

• Comcast service is available in the area

• Family meets qualifying conditions (low income, school lunch program, Medicaid, no Comcast debt, etc.)

• Everyone (students, family, visitors) needs to be connected • Students in household are from different school districts • High bandwidth usage expected

• Family is willing to be direct billed by Comcast

• Student moves between homes during the school year • Family does not want to or cannot pay for service

• Family may be relocating to an area not serviced by Comcast during the school year

Information Services Department County of San Mateo

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Option Two: Cellular Internet Service

Internet service supplied by Mobile Access Points from T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon. Mobile hot spots can support up to four users in one home. Device access is

restricted to students only, and only those students within the same school district. The data plans vary (data usage, speeds) and will determine how these can be used. This option connects one household to the Internet.

Mobile hot spot device

Select

this

option if:

• Cellular coverage is available in the primary area of use • Comcast service is not viable or available

• Student moves between locations frequently

• Expected use aligned with the data plan (speed, bandwidth) • Users in household are from the same school district

• Less than 4 connections in house

• Cellular signal in area of use is weak or unreliable (trees, tall buildings, obstructions, concrete buildings, etc.)

• Cellular service plan is not sufficient to meet expected bandwidth usage patterns

• Users in household are from different school districts • More than 4 users in household

Do not

select this

option if:

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Option Three: Extend SMC Public Wi-Fi

SMC Public Wi-Fi infrastructure and coverage is extended to areas with large numbers of students. SMC Public Wi-Fi is 10 Mbps service. This option connects multiple households to the Internet from a single access point in densely populated homes (apartment buildings, community centers, gathering spaces, etc.).

Select

this

option if:

• Highly dense area of students, or heavily trafficked areas • Connect large numbers (up to 500) of users concurrently • Areas with students from multiple school districts

• Internet access not restricted to students • Free access to the Internet is desired

• Moderate to high bandwidth and speed required

• Usage is in homes or building areas where Wi-Fi signals are weak or cannot penetrate inside

• Household is located at the edge of Wi-Fi signal coverage • Non school usage includes accessing sensitive sites

(online banking, personal information, etc.)

• Need to protect students from visiting banned sites (no site filtering and blocking)

Do not

select this

option if:

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Option Four: Portable Internet Towers (RDU)

Portable Wi-Fi towers for areas with no cell signal, dispersed students, tough terrain, low infrastructure. The towers are rapidly deployable and are ideal for temporary situations. They support 4 to 6 Wi-Fi access points, and operate on either electricity and/or an onboard gas generator. The towers are linked to the Internet via a data line (cable, fiber) if available, or wirelessly to another transmitter. This option connects multiple households to the Internet through its access points.

Select

this

option if:

• Areas with no or very limited existing infrastructure • Areas with no traditional coverage (Comcast, cellular) • Augment current coverage gaps

• Augment network capacity due to a sudden surge in users • Temporary coverage due to outages (natural disasters,

power shutoffs, etc.) • Long term usage

• Site location cannot be secured from vandalism, theft, damage • No ability to support operations and maintenance during the

time it is running

Do not

select this

option if:

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Timeline

for pilot areas

Student Data

Provided /

Aggregated

Four

Connectivity

Options Defined

Implementation

of Options

5/21 to 7/3

6/15 to 7/3

7/6 to 9/30

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East Palo Alto / Ravenswood Next Steps

• Wi-Fi Expansion in noted areas (see map)

– Covers 45% of Ravenswood students

– Students in other school districts benefit as well

• Partner with Comcast/Xfinity

– Internet Essentials Program ($9.95 per month) – County to sponsor up to 240+ families

– 12 months County + 2 months Comcast @ no cost

• Partner with T-Mobile Hotspots

– County to sponsor up to 240 devices for schools to provide to students

• Portable Wi-Fi Unit

– Place units in other high dense areas of connectivity need

• Confirm Partnership / Governance going

forward between City and County

15 Information Services Department