Mayor Gavin Newsom: WiFi Deal is Good for City

In my first State of the City address, I made the commitment to provide every San Franciscan access to free wireless Internet service. We have taken an important step in fulfilling that promise.

The city and county of San Francisco has reached an agreement with EarthLink and its business partner Google to become the first major city in the country to offer free universal wireless Internet access throughout the entire City. In creating this public-private partnership, we will accomplish this at no cost to City taxpayers.

San Franciscans will be able to check e-mail, search job Web sites, do schoolwork online or access government services anywhere and anytime. Despite San Francisco's well-justified reputation as a global technology leader, a substantial number of our residents lack Internet access at home. Particularly, San Francisco residents who are low-income, disabled, seniors or immigrants with limited English speaking ability are much less likely to have Internet access.

Yet these are the populations who could most benefit from the diverse resources of the Internet and the connections the Internet enables.

San Francisco's "digital inclusion" programs will focus on the City's most underserved neighborhoods as well as disadvantaged residents and families.

According to the report on a national level, 68 percent of Americans have access to the Internet. However, access in some segments of the population is much lower, including:
• 73 percent of households earning less than $15,000 a year are not online;
• 57 percent of African Americans are online;
• 38 percent of Americans with disabilities are connected;
• 37 percent of Hispanics have access;
• 29 percent of people who have not graduated from high school are connected;
• 26 percent of people who are more than 60 years of age are online.

Applying these statistics to San Francisco's 740,000 residents and 330,000 households, suggests that at least 200,000 San Francisco residents are left behind in Internet access.

As more of our daily lives are being conducted on the Internet, those who are not connected are increasingly excluded from employment and educational opportunities, pay more for services and goods, and cannot access important health, financial and government services. Youth without home Internet access are hampered in their ability to do schoolwork and are less likely to graduate. Workers require technology skills and access to obtain and retain good paying jobs.

As more city services are offered online, people who most often need these city services often lack Internet access to use them. Free wireless, combined with digital inclusion programs that promote computer ownership and technology training, will enable the City to help our students excel, develop a technologically savvy workforce and equitably offer innovative city services.

To complement the City's agreement with EarthLink to provide free Internet access, I recently joined members of the Digital Inclusion Task Force to announce the release of a report that outlines the city's effort to bring affordable hardware, Internet navigation training, and the production of relevant Internet content to those in need. Programs and training will emphasize digital safety, accessibility to the disabled community and seniors, as well as promoting multi-lingual Web portals and community-based content.

I am very proud of the agreement we negotiated with EarthLink and its partner Google. EarthLink will build and operate a citywide, wireless broadband network at no cost to the City and the City will receive financial compensation to help finance digital inclusion programs. The contract establishes important policies and performance standards that EarthLink and Google must follow in order to ensure openness, consumer choice and privacy.

In partnering with EarthLink and Google, the City will benefit from the technological expertise of two Internet leaders, which can respond to rapidly changing technological developments in wireless Internet technologies. This partnership enables the City to focus on its core strengths in promoting social and economic equity through digital inclusion, delivering public services and effective governance.

The agreement is the result of the most transparent process ever followed by the City. The City conducted a Request for Information/Comment (RIC), which solicited extensive public input including more than 300 public comments and 26 proposals from private and non-profit sectors on how to best provide affordable, universal WiFi. The City incorporated many of the ideas and practices that were presented in the RIC process for an Request for Proposals.

In conclusion, I look forward to working with the SF Board of Supervisors in bringing this initiative forward and furthering the City's position as a technological and social leader. For more information on the City's WiFi and digital inclusion initiatives, go to www.sfgov.org/techconnect.

Gavin Newsom is the mayor of San Francisco.