[News] Can Publicly Owned Internet Close The Digital Divide In US Cities?

Residents of an affordable senior housing development in East Baltimore register to receive free, high-speed home Internet.

The following article was published by Context.

Software engineer Dan Shuhler spent 15 years frustrated with patchy internet service while living in apartments in Arlington, Virginia – and having no recourse.

Each of those complexes contracted with just a single internet provider, leaving residents with no option for other services – a common situation, he said.

"I'd probably rather have the water go out than the internet – I can get bottled water, but trying to find another place to work isn't doable," Shuhler, 40, told Context.

Shuhler has since bought a house, but he supports an effort to push Arlington to copy a strategy backers say has proven successful elsewhere: publicly owned, locally controlled internet service.

The full article is available here.