Chelsea and Revere Regional Digital Access and Equity Planning
 

Project Kick Off

4/12/21

 

Agenda

Welcome and Introductions

Digital Access and Equity Planning Process

Existing Conditions in Chelsea/ Revere - Service, Speed, and Access

Community Needs Assessment

Project Context

Funding and Programs to Address Digital Divide

Meeting Goals

  1. Review and clarify project scope of work, process, and outcomes.
  2. Review baseline existing conditions analysis in Chelsea/Revere
  3. MAPC Team receives guidance for Community Digital Needs Assessment on:
  • Priority topics to address through survey
  • Avenues to distribute survey
  • Ways to directly connect with target populations

Who We Are

Metropolitan Area Planning
Council (MAPC)

  • Housing

  • Transportation

  • Climate Resilience and Clean Energy

  • Economic Development

  • Land Use

  • Municipal Government

  • Policy

  • Digital Access

Digital Divide in the
Pandemic and Beyond

  • School / Education
  • Work
  • Healthcare
  • Workforce Training
  • Access to Social Assistance and Resources
  • Economic Development

Need for Speed and Chelsea / Revere

Open Data Sources Indicate that Chelsea and Revere have slower median speeds than many communities in the region.


This finding is supported by anecdotal reports of slow or spotty service in the community.

 

What can the City and Partners do to address this issue?

Digital Access and Equity Planning

Three Determining Factors of Digital Access

An Adequate Device

Literacy

Connection

San Francisco

  • Bring free, high-speed Internet service to affordable housing residents throughout San Francisco.
     

  • Launch digital literacy innovation programs to provide technology training and support in high-need communities.

​

  • Support community-based organizations and residents with technology needs.

New York City

  • No one will face a barrier based on cost, who they are, or where they live.

​

  • 100 Mbps Threshold for Speed

​

  • Increase competition among providers and diversity of technological solutions to sustain the other principles

Advise Capital Investment​​

Inform Policy Decisions​​

Identify Program Needs

Chelsea & Revere

The Development of an Regional Digital Access and Equity Plan will: ​

Phases of Work

  • Evaluation of Current Internet Providers and Levels of Service
  • Analysis of Community Access to Device and Internet

Phase 1A: Existing Conditions (Jan - March)

Phase 1B: Community Needs Assessment (March - May)

  • Identification of Population Specific Challenges and Needs via Survey
  • Analysis of Available Data from School Departments and Municipalities

  • Review of Existing Infrastructure

  • Assessment of Potential Technology Interventions

Phase 2: Infrastructure and Technology Evaluation (March - May)

  • Synthesis of Earlier Phases of Work to Inform Policy, Program, and Capital Investments to Address Specific Barriers and Needs in Chelsea and Revere.

Phase 3: Plan and Program Development (May - June)

Data and Information to Inform the Process

  • Form 500 Annual Reports
  • Data related to trench permits or ROW operations from cable/telecom providers
  • Shapefile/diagrams of municipal networks
  • Cell tower/small cell permits
  • Anonymized distribution of Hotspot devices through library program
  • Google / Zoom Client Data
    • Speed, CPU Usage, Latency, Packet Loss etc.
  • Anonymized distribution of Hotspot devices 
  • IT Service Tickets 

Municipal Offices

School District

Advisory Committee Role

Help us (MAPC) ground truth/see information from the community perspective

Provide feedback and response to proposed strategies

Assist in connecting with community members for the community needs assessment

Own this product

A Journey Through the Internet

Let's Start Local

Cable & Fiber

Power!

Cell & 5G

Satellite

Street light

Coaxial cable

Cable: Widely available, slower than fiber leverages copper coaxial cables. Comcast uses a mix with fiber (hybrid fiber-coaxial)

Fiber: Fiber uses light signals to carry internet data. Limited availability, often higher speeds

DSL (Digital subscriber line): Leverages copper phone lines as well. High availability but slower speeds

Satellite: Ideal for rural areas and available throughout all 50 states sends and receives singnal through connecting to an orbiting satellite. slower speeds

Fixed wireless / 5G: Access Points affixed to locations like cell towers and on top of a buildings antenna array that are between the Distribution Point and the customer.

Internet

Internet in Chelsea & Revere

Home

Let's oversimplify it!

Internet Service  Provider

Network

Private network in public space for public good

When it comes to equitable access, the technology matters

What's going on when it leaves your house?

Let's oversimplify it!

The Journey

We are going to focus elsewhere for now, but we'll revisit. This is a critical part of the internet.

There is a lot going on in here: devices, skills, wifi, etc.

Source: US Census, 2010

Total Households in Revere =20,454

Total Households in Chelsea = 11,831

Percent of Households by Size

Moderate activity for a family using multiple devices

100-200 Mbps

200-500 Mbps

High demand activity to keep the whole family connected

500-1,000 Mbps

Unlimited data w/out interruptions for families & heavy use

Light to moderate activity for a small family

50-100 Mbps

 Light activity perfect for single users or couples

25-50 Mbps

allconnect.com

download speed classification

Across the country, the median income for households with fiber available is 34 percent higher than in areas with DSL only: $60,969 compared to $45,500

Who Doesn't Have Access ?

19% of Revere & Chelsea households lack internet service.

12% of households where English is not spoken "Well" or "At All" lack internet access within the Chelsea/Revere/Winthrop PUMA

Percentage of Households without an Internet Subscription

Source: US Census ACS 5 Year, 2019

Percent of Households without Internet Access by Income Group

43% of Revere & 33% Chelsea households earning less than $20,000 per year lack internet service.

DESE Household Access Pilot

DESE Partnership with Education Superhighway

  • Data Sharing Agreement to enable review of all student household's ability to connect to local service providers.
  • Will isolate households that:
    • Are eligible to connect, but do not have service
    • Households that are unable to connect.
  • This exercise will help to illustrate where current service gaps exist and areas of future investment

 

Immediate Opportunities

  • $50 subsidy for income-eligible families to purchase Comcast Internet Essentials.
  • Up to $100 subsidy to purchase a laptop or tablet from provider.
  • Program is expected to go into effect by the end of April 2021.
  • More info can be found at:  

 

MassHire Internet Connect Program

 

  • Internet subsidy or hotspot for individuals using Career Center resources along with Chromebook
  • Program is ongoing.
  • More information can be found at: 

Emergency Broadband Benefit Program

Identifying device and financial support needs can help ensure effective delivery

Link: FCC

Link: Mass.gov

Medium-Term Opportunities

Mass Broadband Institute Gateway City WiFi Grant Program

  • Up to $100,000 in grant funds to support new WiFi installations in Everett.
  • Public Housing/Affordable Housing
  • Downtown: Where else?

 

National Telecommunications and Information Administration Grant

  • $300M Broadband Deployment Grant
  • $285M Connecting Minority Communities Pilot Grant
  • More info can be found at  

 

Identifying partnerships can help ensure effective delivery

Link: Broadband USA

IT Community Compact Grants & Best Practices

  • State source: since 2016 funded 87 municipal project related to "network infrastructure".

MassHire YouthWorks / Digital Navigators Program

  • MassHire YouthWorks program funding may be able to flex towards supporting HS Students train and work as "Digital Navigators"

Long-Term Opportunities

Massachusetts IT Bond Bill

  • Grants for planning and infrastructure
  • $20 million budgeted (Doesn't necessarily mean that will be spent)

 

American Rescue Plan Package

  • At least $510 million will be allocated to Massachusetts for economic recovery.
  • Potential for follow up funding through the Accessible, Affordable Internet for All Act

 

Identifying where infrastructure is needed most can help ensure effective delivery

The Accessible, Affordable Internet for All Act

  • ​Would invest over $94 billion to build high-speed broadband infrastructure in unserved and underserved communities to close the digital divide

Our Goal for Community Engagement:

 

To understand the specific internet access needs of the Chelsea and Revere communities​ and barriers or challenges impacting that ability to use the internet.

​

MAPC will work with community partners to identify the key functional needs of the internet in daily life, current ability to use the internet for those key functions.

 

 

Next Steps

 

 

Phase 1B: Community Needs Assessment (April - May)

  • Identification of Population Specific Challenges and Needs via Survey and Engagement​
  • Analysis of Available Data from Everett School Department and Cities

Please reach out to Josh Eichen! jeichen@mapc.org

  • Review of Existing Infrastructure in Cities

  • Assessment of Potential Technology Interventions

Phase 2: Infrastructure and Technology Evaluation (April - May)

Please reach out to Josh Eichen! jeichen@mapc.org

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