Philly awarded $11.8 million by feds to bridge digital divide

A Philadelphia coalition of private and public entities was awarded a $11.8 million stimulus grant on Monday to help bring the Web to the city’s low-income residents.
The grant has been awarded to the Urban Affairs Coalition, a group that includes Drexel University, Media Mobilizing Project, Philadelphia FIGHT, Wilco Electronic Systems and others.
According to a press release, the group plans on using the money to create 5,000 new home broadband subscribers while providing training and equipment to residents and businesses.
This isn’t the first time Philadelphia will receive federal money to help bridge the digital divide. And, although the city was denied its initial application for stimulus money, Philadelphia has seen an influx of federal dollars. In March, the city took a piece of a $3.7 million grant. In July, the city’s Division of Technology was awarded $6.4 million to help modernize and build computer centers around the city.