“WIRELESS HARTFORD DEPOT”:

 PROVIDING ACCESS TO EDUCATION

 

---NEWS RELEASE---

 

(November 2, 2006) --- Mayor Eddie A. Perez is pleased to announce that the educational and training aspect of  “Wireless Hartford” is officially available in Hartford’s Blue Hills neighborhood--- one of two pilot neighborhoods of this exciting new initiative aimed at closing the digital divide and spurring economic development and growth.  The Depot is located at 121 Cornwall Street, where the old Breakthrough Magnet and Mountain Laurel School used to be.

 

“Wireless Hartford” will make it easier for residents, employees, and visitors to have access to information when it comes to things like jobs, education, and health care.  The pilot project makes Hartford the largest municipally owned WiFi network open to the public in New England and one of the largest in the country.  What is unique is that the Hartford system is the largest in the United States that provides free broadband access, training and low cost equipment to residents.

 

Mayor Perez says, “Only 25 percent of Hartford households have a working computer with Internet access.  It is basically the other way around in the suburbs.  What sets us apart from other systems is that this Depot will provide neighborhood residents with the access to low-cost computers and basic training.  Other cities just don’t provide that educational aspect of the cyberspace equation.”

 

IBM assisted the City in developing a sustaining Business Model to support and maintain the wireless network.

 

Here’s how “Wireless Hartford” works:  Any Hartford resident can log on with a wireless computer in the pilot neighborhoods.  Right now, it’s free for residents after they create an account.  Starting at the end of 1/07, households will have 20 hours a month of free wireless access in the targeted areas.  For unlimited use, households will pay no more than $20 a month.  The initiative will expand city wide as more funding becomes available.

 

For more information on “Wireless Hartford”, please call 311 or from a cell or computer-activated phone, please dial 757-9311.