HOUSTON-Mayor Bill White, educators and community leaders unveiled a new project providing free or discounted high-speed wireless Internet access to low-income residents in Houston’s Pecan Park neighborhood in the East End.
The Technology For All wireless network is based on a cutting-edge combination of off-the-shelf hardware developed during the past year-and-a-half by faculty and students in Rice University’s electrical and computer engineering department.
On Thursday, White joined East End’s City Council member and Mayor Pro Tem Carol Alvarado, Houston Public Library Interim Director Toni Lambert, Rice University President David Leebron and Technology For All President Will Reed in a press conference at Melcher Branch Library to announce the new service.
“The City of Houston is pleased to join Technology For All in their efforts to provide Internet access to one of Houston’s underserved communities,” said White. “The program will provide additional services to library customers and encourage community members to increase usage of the services available at their neighborhood library.”
TFA-Wireless serves a 1.6-square-mile area of the Pecan Park Super Neighborhood in Houston’s East End bounded by I-45 South, the 610 South Loop, Highway 225, Lawndale Street and Griggs Road. The price of commercially available high-speed Internet service is beyond the means of most residents in the low-income neighborhood.
“Technology For All has been focused on expanding our services to the communities we serve,” said TFA’s Reed. “As a tool for community empowerment, TFA-Wireless will help TFA create educational and economic opportunities in the neighborhood that have not previously been available.”
