Philly’s digital divide is growing, but at least we got some free Wi-Fi kiosks ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

In 2016, the United Nations declared internet access to be a basic human right.

However, in Philadelphia — the United States’ poorest big city, with a poverty rate of 25.7 percent — the internet subscription rate fell from 2016 to 2017 by 2.7 percent, according to the recently released 2013-2017 American Community Survey (ACS).

Only 71.6 percent of households in the city had broadband in 2017, compared to a national rate of 83.5 percent and an 88.1 percent rate in the Philly suburbs.

As Philly.com notes, though, there’s an even wider disparity among the city’s neighborhoods: Center City sees a broadband penetration rate of 89 percent, while North Philadelphia’s Tioga/Nicetown sees only 37 percent.

Increasingly, residents without in-home broadband are relying on smartphones to access the internet: As of March 2018, a Pew Research Center survey found, 31 percent of American households earning less than $30,000 per year are “smartphone dependent” for internet access.

Those local folks now have one more option for hopping on the web: The ACS data release comes within a few days of the City of Philadelphia’s Dec. 7 launch of its first LinkPHL kiosks, which will offer free and secure Wi-Fi, device charging ports, phone calls within the U.S. and a city services finder.

The Office of Transportation, Infrastructure, and Sustainability announced in November 2017 that it had received approval from the city’s Art Commission to install 100 free-standing kiosks total, mainly in Center City and University City. The service will be paid for by advertising, not the city’s budget.

“LinkPHL’s many amenities support our SmartCityPHL goal of creating a modern infrastructure that will benefit Philadelphia for many years to come,” said Mayor Jim Kenney in a statement.

See the first five kiosk locations, all in Center City, here, and download the app to access LinkPHL’s Wi-Fi here.

(Screenshot via cities.link/link-cities/philadelphia.html)

As of now, the city isn’t expanding LinkPHL to more impoverished areas, but other steps have been taken to reducing Philadelphia’s digital divide, both from inside and outside local government:

• This past August, the Digital Literacy Alliance — a 19-organization collective born out of the Mayor’s Fund for Philadelphia — awarded close to $175,000 to 12 Philly organizations as they try to reduce the digital skills gap across the city.
• Comcast’s $10-per-month Internet Essentials program has served nearly 200,000 low-income Philadelphians.
• Free Library of Philadelphia branches offer free computer use for job searches and homework help.
• The KEYSPOT Network deploys more than $500,000 annually to support public technology centers and accompanying digital literacy training.