Comcast, the parent company of NBCUniversal, would be the internet provider, but the program is made possible by a $5 million donation given to the Miami Foundation. Achieve Miami is the organization that is charged with carrying the initiative to fruition.
Starting this month, the project called “Miami Connected” will equip families in digital deserts like Overtown, Little Haiti, Liberty City and Homestead with broadband internet service. Kevin Lawrence, Booker T. Washington High School s principal, is elated.
“With all the challenges that our students face, something as simple as what we take for granted . we could walk home and we have Wi-Fi access so we could get on the internet. A large portion of my students don’t have that,” Lawrence said.
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By: Johanna Alonso Daily Record business reporter February 25, 2021
High school senior Kimberly Vasquez sits in front of her laptop in her Baltimore home. In November, the 17-year-old senior struggled to access her online classroom because the family’s low-cost broadband plan, Comcast Internet Essentials, does not provide the bandwidth for her and her two sisters to stream teleconferencing applications at the same time. (Courtesy of Kimberly Vasquez)
Maryland’s goal of developing a broadband network for students in rural areas by August 2021 has been pushed back several months.
The delay was caused by “necessary agreements between all the groups involved” taking longer than expected, said Kendrick Gordon, the director of the Governor’s Office of Rural Broadband.