Free internet comes to Chapel Hill

Latoya Mewborn, resident of the Airport Gardens public housing community, plans to use her free AT&T U-verse internet access to take online classes to become a nurse.

Four of Chapel Hill’s 13 public housing communities have received free access to AT&T U-verse internet service and the town plans to expand access.

Airport Gardens, Colony Woods West, Caldwell/Church Street and North Columbia Street are public housing neighborhoods that received access from AT&T in July for the next five years.

Four more public housing neighborhoods are scheduled to have access at no charge by the end of 2015 — Pritchard Park, Eastwood, Rainbow Heights and South Estes Drive.

The Town of Chapel Hill is also working with Google Fiber to provide internet access, but plans have yet to be finalized.

While Mewborn sees the importance of internet access in her own life, she doesn’t think it’s important for everyone.

“It depends on what you’ve got going on with your life — (such as) people who have jobs online or applying for jobs online or taking classes,” she said.

Ross Tompkins, a Chapel Hill business analyst, said six months before the agreement expires, the town and AT&T will discuss extensions.

If an agreement can’t be reached, Tompkins said alternatives include reaching similar terms with another service provider or transitioning residents away from the free service.

Chapel Hill Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt echoed the importance of public housing residents having access.

"(Carrboro) Mayor Lavelle and I actually worked really hard to make sure that AT&T would provide services to our public housing,” he said. “It was a high priority for us.”

Kleinschmidt said AT&T and Google found Chapel Hill attractive because of the number of residents interested in participating, which gave the town power when negotiating with the companies.

Erica Swanson, the head of community impact programs for Google Fiber, said it is a goal for the organization to make internet more accessible and affordable.

“We’re looking forward to working with national and local partners to invest in solutions that can address the unique needs of Chapel Hill,” she said in an email.

Kleinschmidt said he and Lavelle insisted on providing internet access to residents in public housing because they will have the hardest time accessing internet.

“It’s about having opportunities for their children to access the internet to do homework and research, to be able to search for job opportunities, to be able to stay in communication with people around the world and to be better informed on what’s going on around the world,” he said.

“The things those of us with internet access just take for granted.”

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