The United Way has launched a project to cover Philadelphia's poor neighborhoods with wireless access and to supply low-income families with computers.
The project, to be completed in April, will create two Internet "hot spots" in West Philadelphia that will allow anyone with the right equipment to tap in to a broadband connection as powerful as any offered by a commercial service.
The service will cost between $5 and $10 per month, less than what many people pay to dial up the Internet on a modem.
Only people with a computer and a wireless Internet adapter card will be able to get the signals, but the United Way plans to start giving away machines to area families this summer, starting with 100 in the city's West Powelton and Haddington sections.
"The long-term plan is to have a wireless coverage blanket in neighborhoods where people probably couldn't afford the service on their own," said Stephen Rockwell, director of technology outreach for the United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania.
(via Smart Mobs)
