It has been two months since the city of Tukwila installed nine internet hotspots on light posts in one neighborhood. Although the city meant it to be used by residents, not many knew about it.
“I thought they were installing more surveillance cameras,” said Munaf Al Tuwaijari, a resident who lives on the block. “I didn’t know about it.”
This Wi-Fi connector is part of an attempt to make Tukwila a smart city, a designation for municipalities that use data and technology to increase efficiency, sustainability, development and quality of life for its residents. Tukwila is taking that concept one step further by not only making its infrastructure smart, but also its people.
In January, Tukwila took its first step toward becoming a smart city by providing community internet access to close the technology divide among its residents. The main purpose of the pilot program is to spread equal opportunity for quality education among students and to help those looking for work. The city plans on having 53 hotspots installed by the end of the year.
More and more each day, people rely on internet access. We use the internet to access information, either through social media or educational websites. Internet access has become more essential than it ever was before. What was once considered a luxury in the early 2000s is now becoming a basic need.
People who can’t afford to pay for internet access are being left behind. Not only do they miss out on learning and being current with the world’s affairs, but they also face challenges for living outdated lifestyles in modern times. Internet is increasingly necessary to access education and job opportunities.
Tukwila’s free Wi-Fi internet program recognizes that plugging in is about more than watching cat videos on YouTube. People need access to the internet to further their educations, apply for jobs and access benefits that help them survive. The first major goal of the project is to level the playing field with all students. Students and homeless people are the most affected by this disparity.
The city installed internet hotspots or access points, first near South 144th Street between Tukwila International Boulevard and Military Road. The Tukwila School District reported that this area had the highest concentration of students who do not have internet access.
The Tukwila School District had already provided a Chromebook for every student to take home. However, students need internet access to do their schoolwork.
Tukwila is now providing internet much like a utility, viewing it as a service that should be accessible to everyone.
Providing public internet access through Wi-Fi as a service does not have any additional costs, said Joseph Todd, the director of technology and innovation services for the city of Tukwila. The only major cost is the device itself, which is sold to the city at 54 percent of its retail price because the vendor, Ruckus Wireless, likes the project so much. The internet service itself doesn’t cost taxpayers extra money because it uses the city’s network.
Basically, the city is sharing its network with its residents, so the internet fee for the city is the same as if the program were not implemented.
On average, about 200 users have signed on each week since its installation. It was estimated that the pilot program would serve 600-700 students. The difference could be due to many reasons.
“I didn’t even know we had that [service],” said Al Tuwaijari, who has several children enrolled in Tukwila Public Schools. “Now, it is very important for the child’s education for the teacher and parent to contact by email. I don’t really use Wi-Fi besides that.”
He pays for his internet currently.
Although Todd says that the vendor guarantees each hotspot has a 400-foot signal radius, some residents who live within 200 feet say they can’t get a signal.
“I don’t get Wi-Fi in my apartment, but it works in [my sister’s] apartment only when I’m near the window. But it’s still slow,” said Bimaia Biswa, a sophomore at Foster High School. Her sister’s unit is across from the apartment she lives in, and the building abuts the road.
Not many residents knew the program existed even though the city mailed out a flier when it first installed the nine hotspots in the area. Some who knew of it had trouble finding the login page, where a full name, email address and phone number is required to sign in. Others said that the internet was too slow.
The city plans to address these flaws in the future, but it already has plans to improve the program. It acknowledges that some residents won’t get strong signals, so it plans to place Wi-Fi hotspots on both sides of streets, as a hotspot’s signal is pointed in one direction. Residents who live outside of the signal range or who live in remote areas will also be able to check out what are called “Mi-Fi” portable hotspots in the near future. The city of Tukwila is working with Verizon to provide these portable hotspots.
Because the city’s main intention for the service is to help citizens have equal opportunity for education and jobs, there are limits to how the internet can be used.
Users are automatically logged out of the service after 24 hours, but they can log in again as soon as they want to. Limiting the users’ connection duration helps prevent people who may use the internet to access peer-to-peer websites to download large files and make the internet slower overall for everyone else. Much like internet provided by Comcast or CenturyLink, its speed gets slower when more people use it. At this stage in the pilot program, activities such as gaming are purposely blocked, but light browsing, such as checking emails and watching YouTube videos, is allowed.
Should the program expand to a greater area, it would become another resource in addition to the Tukwila Public Library, which is conveniently located near the high school and community centers. Library Services Manager Abbie Anderson said the library is still being used consistently by children and adults, but the number could be increasing. Kids and teens come to the library not only to use the computers and internet service, but to socialize and study together. The adults still bring their devices to use.
“I think it will help those with handheld devices, because when they go home they can actually use them,” Anderson said.
The library serves several purposes. Faruk Vohra, the operations manager, notes that the bulk of library attendees are ages 8 to 17.
“It’s great because here we have a lot of families who work many hours just to sustain themselves, and this service helps those with greatest need,” Vohra said.
He says that a lot of students use the computers at the library because they don’t have any at home, and the main resource adults use is the printer. Many students on average spend at least two to four hours at the library; sometimes they are there all day.
By making the internet a more accessible utility, students will be able to bring Chromebooks home and have the same opportunities as their wealthier peers. Non-native English speakers will also benefit greatly, as the materials offered in the library can be accessed at home by the internet. Many demographics — including vulnerable populations such as homeless people — come to the library to use resources that require the internet.
Founder of Facing Homelessness Rex Holbein said that internet access and phones are critical to low-income and homeless people because they’re their only contact point. Without phones, people can feel isolated and cut off from the world. For many, phones are the only way to connect with friends and family.
But even more importantly, phone and internet access is crucial in landing a job. Many job applications require a phone number or an email address, and having pocket access to these two things raises the chance of being hired greatly. Even if they don’t have phone service, people can get free messaging apps that give the user a number, but the apps need internet to work. Since it’s easier for devices to access internet through Wi-Fi, the service will allow homeless people to have a reliable form of communication regardless of whether they can pay their phone bill.
“Even in winter, if you ask them, homeless people would give up their sleeping bag before giving up their cell phone,” Holbein said.
Homeless people are “living on a survival line” and have to worry about keeping their phone service alive or getting it lost, damaged or stolen, Holbein said. Homeless people constantly juggle with limited resources that very often services don’t provide.
“Information is king,” Holbein said. “By making knowledge more available, we’re moving forward as a city. Raising the bar standard not only benefits the city’s poorest but also everyone else.”
Wait, there's more. Check out the full March 21 - 27 issue.