Inside Philly’s plan to provide free Verizon internet at 183 rec centers

The City of Philadelphia renewed its Verizon franchise agreement earlier this summer for another five years — including an initiative for Verizon to install internet service at 183 recreation centers across Philadelphia over the next two years.

That means the city has a locked-in deal and more Philadelphians will have access to free reliable broadband in their neighborhoods. 

“Having a rec center locally in the neighborhood that has internet access, that’s just another linking the chain of things that we try all the time to explore in terms of digital equity and the digital divide,” Steve Robertson, deputy CIO for the Office of Innovation and Technology (OIT), told Technical.ly. 

Verizon’s original franchise agreement started in 2009 and was set to expire in August. Before this agreement, Comcast was the only internet service provider with a franchise agreement in Philadelphia, meaning it was the only company that had a deal with the city to provide cable and internet services.

Over the last three years, Verizon worked with the City of Philadelphia’s Office of Innovation and Technology to negotiate its new agreement, including the rec centers project. City Council voted to extend the agreement renewal and Mayor Cherelle Parker signed it shortly after, as was expected. 

“This bill,” mayoral spokesperson Joe Grace told Technical.ly, “was introduced in council at the Parker administration’s request.”

A unified approach to rec center internet, like you see at libraries

Franchise agreements are contracts between the service provider and local government that outline the expectations of what the company will provide. It gives the company, in this case Verizon, access to build out infrastructure and provide service in the area. 

These deals are beneficial for the city because they can negotiate costs and other benefits. In addition to the rec centers, this franchise agreement includes terms that Verizon will provide grant funding for public education and government grants. 

When negotiations started for the Verizon renewal, OIT looked for ways it could use the legislation to foster digital equity, Robertson said. The department looked at how other institutions run and settled on an “institutional network” framework. Institutional networks, or i-nets, are an option where Verizon provides standardized internet service to government buildings. They’re often used to connect community institutions like schools and libraries. 

Having a rec center locally in the neighborhood that has internet access, that’s just another linking the chain of things that we try all the time to explore in terms of digital equity and the digital divide.Steve Robertson Office of Innovation and Technology

Philadelphia’s free public library system all have free Wi-Fi and access to public computers. That means that no matter which library branch you go to, you can expect the same reliable, secure internet service. 

Expanding internet access to rec centers provides another option for Philadelphians who don’t have reliable internet service at home. 

Right now, the city’s recreation centers have a “patchwork of internet service,” Robertson said, meaning there’s a disconnect between locations. Some of them have adequate internet service, while others don’t have any. 

For centers that do have internet, there isn’t consistency across the board in terms of service providers and internet plans. Some staff at rec centers are even paying for the internet service just to keep it available, according to Robertson. For residents, that means you could have a different experience at every rec center you go to when trying to get online — and it’s difficult for city workers to maintain. 

“There was just a fortuitous circumstance that this need arose and aligned with us renewing the Verizon franchise,” Robertson said. “The idea here was to get all of these sites connected under one agreement and scale it so that we can get the best price that we can negotiate.” 

Verizon aims to start installing the network later this summer

Installing a unified internet service across rec centers will be a two-year project, broken up into two phases. 

Phase one is to install internet in 100 rec centers across the city. Phase two will provide internet to the remaining 83 rec centers. Both phases will include rec centers from all over the city. 

OIT aims to get all 10 districts connected with at least one rec center to start, then continue building out across the city. All of the centers will have 1 gigabit or 1,000 megabits speed. This speed should be able to easily accommodate most activities such as gaming, video calls and online learning. Plus, Verizon will be maintaining network cybersecurity, Robertson said.

Hopefully, installation can start later this summer, Eric Reed, Verizon’s vice president of state government affairs for the Pennsylvania and Delaware region, told Technical.ly. 

Conversations between the city and Verizon to find a way to increase internet access have been happening since 2020 when the pandemic forced everyone to work and attend school online, Reed said. This is the first project of its kind that Verizon has participated in, according to Reed.

Pricing is locked in, everything’s locked in for five years, so it’s easy to plan for funding, getting the budget allocated for it.Steve Robertson Office of Innovation and Technology

Providing internet access at the rec centers will make it easier and more secure for people to participate in telehealth appointments, complete school assignments or connect with customers as a small business owner, Reed said. 

“Given the broadband service that we are going to be providing at these centers addresses all those things, it’s a robust connection,” Reed said. “It’s secure in terms of the overarching initiative.” 

This service is part of the franchise renewal’s five-year contract, but there will be an option to extend it for another five years. The cost for this service is $456 per site per month, totaling about $5 million over the next five years. 

A path forward after a storied history of digital equity wins and losses

Philadelphia’s history with affordable internet is full of ups and downs. 

Starting in the 2000s, Philadelphia tried to implement a publicly owned and operated citywide wireless network called Wireless Philadelphia, which ultimately failed because of a lack of infrastructure from the contracted ISP Earthlink.  

More recently, Philadelphia launched the PHLConnectEd program in 2020, which offered free internet service to school-age families throughout the pandemic. The city later switched its strategy to pushing the federal internet subsidy, the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). However, that ended when the ACP ran out of funding at the end of May. 

The Verizon franchise agreement’s long-term nature will hopefully strengthen the city’s latest approach to digital equity, Robertson said. It’s part of a five-year agreement, meaning there will be stability for at least that long.

“Pricing is locked in, everything’s locked in for five years,” he said. “So it’s easy to plan for funding, getting the budget allocated for it.” 

As a part of the franchise agreement, the city can also choose up to 261 additional sites to expand internet service to. For now, rec centers are the priority, but there are opportunities to expand to any other city-owned buildings, such as firehouses, later on, according to Robertson. 

It’s all a part of the bigger picture for broader internet access in the city. Philadelphia released a five-year Digital Equity Plan in 2022 outlining ways to increase access to the Internet as one of its goals, including providing community-based networks to provide public Wi-Fi. A connected network for rec centers in the city is a step in that direction. 

“That strategy [is],” Robertson said, “let’s use as many opportunities as we can for digital equity.”

Ed note: The headline for this story has been updated for accuracy.

Sarah Huffman is a 2022-2024 corps member for Report for America, an initiative of The Groundtruth Project that pairs young journalists with local newsrooms. This position is supported by the Lenfest Institute for Journalism.