Two public housing properties in Pittsfield receive funding to narrow the digital divide – Berkshire Eagle

PITTSFIELD — Two of the city’s public housing properties have received funding to upgrade internet access for residents.

Currently, neither building has bulk Wi-Fi, meaning tenants must purchase an individual plan to access the internet. The most basic plan from Spectrum, the county’s primary service provider, costs $30 a month.

And if residents want high-speed internet to work remotely, attend telehealth appointments or stream a movie, they’re looking at a monthly bill of $50 or $70.

The new funding, which will bring bulk, high speed Wi-Fi to both Rose Manor and Brattlebrook Village and could cut costs for renters, comes from the Residential Retrofit Program, a project of Massachusetts Broadband Initiative. The program works with housing operators and internet service providers to upgrade broadband infrastructure in public and affordable housing properties throughout the state.

Rose Manor and Brattlebrook Village are among 3,512 housing units across the commonwealth to receive awards, valued at a total $6.3 million.

“In addressing our housing crisis, we are working on upgrading the capital of our public housing,” said state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, who represents the 2nd Berkshire District. “In a parallel effort, we are working to ensure that everyone across the commonwealth has access to high speed internet.”

Internet access is notoriously poor in public housing across the country. Those properties tend to be older, with many lacking updated wiring or wiring at all. That can make it challenging and costly to install high-speed internet.

Which leaves many residents without access to any internet, let alone high-speed connection. Tenants that do have broadband connections often struggle to afford the monthly subscription cost.

The consequent gap in access to the internet, often called a digital divide, hits low-income and Black and Hispanic households hardest.

Most households living in public housing have incomes that are considered very or extremely low. Nationwide, 43 percent of adults with annual household incomes under $30,000 do not have high-speed internet at home.

Many public housing residents are also older or disabled, two populations who are less likely to have or use broadband.

Among these groups, Black and Hispanic households are affected the most. Those households lack in-home internet access at higher rates than white households earning comparable incomes and are less likely to report owning a desktop or laptop computer.

In the Berkshires, the majority of public housing properties require tenants to pay for internet access, according to a survey conducted by the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission.

Of the 125 public housing properties surveyed in the county, 69 responded. In 62 of those, tenants must pay for their own internet.

“We don’t know for sure how low-income residents are impacted by it, but we can presume that the extra $30 they have to pay out of pocket is going to hurt them financially,” said Wylie Goodman, BRPC’s senior planner in economic development.

With the new awards, Pittsfield Housing Authority, which manages Rose Manor, and Hearthway Inc., which manages Brattlebrook Village, have contracted with Aervivo Inc. to upgrade the properties’ broadband infrastructure.

Once the infrastructure is updated, Aervivo will offer broadband plans of between 100 and 1,000 mbps. For tenants, the plan and new provider could mean a large slash in their monthly internet bill, said Kristin Coyne, who oversees Hearthway’s properties.

Brattlebrook Village residents who opt into the plan will be looking at paying between $15.99 and $24.99 a month, said Coyne.

“This effort is a step toward digital equity and people being able to afford it. It’s not just making sure the fiber is there,” said Farley-Bouvier. “In order to get true equity you need to be able to provide it. That’s why I think it being a utility covered in the rent would be very important.”