Approximately 9.7% of Richmond residents do not have an internet subscription, according to the 2023 American Community Survey one-year estimates. Richmond City Council recently adopted a resolution to declare high-speed internet a public necessity for all Richmond residents, an update to similar legislation passed three years ago. (Liam Velazquez/Capital News Service)
By Liam Velazquez/Capital News Service
RICHMOND, Va. — Richmond City Council recently adopted a resolution to declare high-speed internet a public necessity for all Richmond residents, an update to similar legislation passed three years ago.
Andreas Addison, 1st District councilman and mayoral candidate, proposed the 2021 resolution. That resolution called on city officials to assess digital infrastructure and develop a strategy to provide Richmond with faster, reliable and affordable internet access. The 2024 resolution, co-patroned by Addison, calls to develop and implement a plan.
“We have not had an update on that project, and this was really pushing the initiative and saying, ‘where’s what we asked for in 2021?’” Addison said.
The pandemic, which pushed students and employees to rely on home internet, highlighted the city’s need for better and more affordable internet. Some students did not have access to high-speed internet, and could not always complete their assignments, according to Addison.
“It’s all kind of rolled into a much bigger conversation around internet access, digital literacy, digital accessibility,” Addison said. “Knowing the internet, how to access it safely and other challenges as well.”
The federally funded Affordable Connectivity Program launched in December 2021, to try and address these same issues. The program offered eligible households discounts of up to $30 a month for internet services. The ACP was discontinued this June due to a lack of funding.
Lifeline is a current federal program that offers discounts up to $9.25 a month for internet services to eligible households, and up to $34.25 for eligible subscribers on tribal lands.
Approximately 9.7% of Richmond residents do not have an internet subscription, according to the 2023 American Community Survey one-year estimates. Low-income communities are among those affected, unable to access important telehealth, education and workplace opportunities, according to City Council.
Comcast director of government affairs Antoine Banks stated in a letter submitted to the Council that the company supports equitable access to the internet. The letter asserts there is 100% access to broadband services throughout the city, but the issue is a lack of adoption with programs that reduce service costs.
People are not aware of these programs or do not trust them, according to Banks. Comcast has a discounted service program for those eligible.
“Offering affordable or even free internet service alone is not enough to close the digital divide,” Banks stated. “The underlying barriers that prevent people from adopting the technology must also be addressed.”
Banks emphasized there needs to be a strong focus on education, digital navigation and effective communication to help people utilize provided resources.
Part of the Council’s vision is to have a faster, fiber network throughout the city. Broadband allows users to connect to the internet, and different services offer varying speeds. Fiber-optic technology transmits data at a faster speed.
“What is the roadmap of our opportunity to truly put fiber where it’s needed?” Addison said. “So that it’s not just broadband access, which is relatively slow and doesn’t have a lot of good bandwidth for really complicated uses.”
Price is another factor in fiber’s favor, aside from initial infrastructure costs. Addison said some city residents pay the same for broadband that he pays for high-speed fiber internet.
“They’re paying $65 a month for broadband; same fee I am paying for fiber,” Addison said.
Market failures have left low-income communities without equal access, according to City Council.
“That’s the challenge I want to tackle, is it should not be market driven on how we bring internet connectivity to neighborhoods,” Addison said. “And right now it is.”
The Federal Communications Commission increased the broadband baseline standard to download speeds of at least 100 megabytes per second and upload speeds of at least 20 mbps earlier this year.
Richmond’s median internet speed is on the slower side, according to the industry publication CNET. The city was ranked 86th of the 100 most populous cities, based on data from the broadband speed test application Ookla.
The average download speed in Richmond clocked at 185 mbps and an upload speed of 51 mbps upload speed, which is higher than the FCC baseline.
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