Expect high-speed internet at 100 Philly rec centers in 2025, Verizon says

Verizon has never done anything quite like trying to outfit Philly rec centers with high-speed internet, according to an exec at the telecommunications giant.

The two-phase project, part of Verizon’s franchise renewal with the city, promises free internet access for residents at 183 rec centers across Philadelphia. The digital equity effort, funded by taxpayers via a $5 million contract, has been a long time in the making, said Eric Reed, Verizon’s vice president of state government affairs for the Pennsylvania and Delaware region.

Vare Recreation Center in Grays Ferry reopened this week as the city’s first with free broadband, and work is on track to make that happen in 100 rec centers in 2025, he said. The entire project is expected to be completed by 2026.

“The city wanted to move fast on this,” Reed told reporter Sarah Huffman on Technical.ly Speaking, a monthly segment on WURD Radio’s “Reality Check” hosted by Tonya Pendleton.

“They wanted to make sure that these essential connections are made readily available to the communities that we serve.”

Advocates have been actively seeking new ways to support internet access after the federal, pandemic-era Affordable Connectivity Program, which provided discounts to families with lower incomes, ended in May. 

When it became clear Congress likely wouldn’t re-up the program, the City of Philadelphia and other stakeholders worked to come up with other options for residents. 

The factors creating a digital divide in urban areas differ greatly from rural issues, said Reed, who said because his role extends throughout Pennsylvania and Delaware, he’s seen those differences up close. 

“In an urban setting like Philadelphia, it could be things like … lack of access to equipment,” Reed said. “Just because you have a broadband connection, you still need to connect it to a laptop or computer.”

In rural areas, on the other hand, there can be challenges in laying down the fiber connections and wireless towers needed to make high-bandwidth connectivity possible.

The rec centers aim to solve the Philly-specific issues through both equipment and internet connection. And it’ll extend from there. While rec centers have been the focus of Verizon’s early push, the city will have the opportunity to choose up to 261 additional sites to expand internet service to in the coming years. 

“Each and every one of these facilities [is] getting internet access, robust internet access, not just Wi-Fi, but a 1gig connection,” Reed said, “which allows for all sorts of great digital interactions for educational purposes, healthcare purposes, commercial transactions.”