Cleveland is one of the nation’s bottom-tier big cities when it comes to broadband access. According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2021 American Community Survey, about 17% of Cleveland homes have no broadband internet connection of any kind—a dubious distinction exceeded only by Miami (20.3%).

While 17% is an improvement from the 2019 Community Survey, which found that about 31% of Cleveland residents has no broadband and ranked Cleveland, we a recent initiative aims to further improve those numbers.

A partnership among Cuyahoga County, the State of Ohio, and Cleveland nonprofit PCs for People is expanding the city’s online footprint, with 15,000 homes in Cleveland and the inner ring suburbs now able to use affordable high-speed internet.

The first phase of the $20 million investment allows residents in Cleveland, Brooklyn, East Cleveland, Warrensville Heights, and Parma to get internet service for $15 a month. Residents who qualify for the federal Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), meanwhile, can have the cost of service fully covered through a $30-a-month ACP subsidy.

Included in coverage are privately-owned apartments and other multi-dwelling units. Four Cleveland Metropolitan Housing Authority buildings totaling 1,000 units are connected as well, lifting a population whose digital divide was spotlighted during the pandemic.

“COVID highlighted all the challenges people face when they don’t have internet,” says

Catherine TkachykCatherine Tkachyk, chief innovation officer for Cuyahoga County. “It was hard to do schoolwork if you were attending remotely, and people working from home were expected to have [internet] access.”

On the first day of availability on March 27, 32 households signed up for service at the Quarrytown Apartments in Berea. Another enrollment event took place on April 8 at the Stella Walsh Recreation Center in Slavic Village, with additional events scheduled for the coming months across all Phase I communities.

While COVID-19 lockdowns mobilized Cleveland to get digitally isolated students and workers online, Cuyahoga County’s current effort aims to cast a wider net, notes Tkachyk.

Like it or not, the internet is incorporated into most every aspect of human life. The pandemic pushed many services online—from healthcare to retail to employment services. Accessibility is critical not only for existential needs, but for entertainment options as well.

“If you don’t know what’s streaming, that’s something that can harm engagement with others,” Tkachyk says. “It seems silly, but that can be a big thing when bonding with coworkers, or even helping with job prospects.”

Phase I approval came last summer, with PCs for People winning a bid to build a fixed wireless network in participating neighborhoods. The organization has since installed antennas, transmitters and other equipment on rooftops, creating Wi-Fi hotspots with T-Mobile as a carrier.

“We went into communities that needed internet the most,” says Bevin Bowersmith, executive director of internet services for PCs for People. “We really just want to be an affordable option for people who don’t have another choice.

Bevin BowersmithNo income-related qualifications are necessary to join the program, adds county official Tkachyk.

“Internet should be an option for all people—if you set a line on income, just because you’re over that line doesn’t make the internet affordable to you,” Tkachyk says. “We can’t just have people lose that access because that would create a perverse incentive. Like they can’t move up at work because they might lose their internet service.”

Program funding derives from the county and state, with the county also receiving a $250,000 federal grant to support outreach and signups for the Affordable Connectivity Program.

Phases over the next year will encompass even more suburbs—including Euclid, Richmond Heights, Garfield Heights and more. Ultimately, underserved populations in these cities should not have to worry about choosing between internet access and their next meal, Tkachyk says.

“What I get to do every day is try and make my community a better place for the people who live there,” says Tkachyk. “I don’t know if I succeed every day, but I at least try to do it. It’s a good feeling to go home with.”