John Hopkins University has released a report that estimates how much it will cost to bring high speed internet access to the 40% of Baltimore residents without it.
“Achieving Digital Equity in Baltimore” is a project of the university’s 21st Century Cities Initiative, a research hub on the causes and consequences of urban economic growth. Written by Mary Miller, JHU’s interim SVP for finance and administration and a senior fellow with the 21st Century Cities Initiative, and Mac McComas, senior program manager for the research hub, the report details a plan for bridging the digital divide and provide access to the 96,000 Baltimore households that do not have wireline internet service, such as cable, fiber or another subscriber line.
The report estimates that to service these individual households without internet service at an estimated cost per household per month ranging from $20 to $40, the necessary annual subsidy would range from $23 million to $46 million. It would also cost between $3.5 to $7.5 million to provide devices to households without them, and $21.5 million to provide internet to 200 anchor institutions and 7,000 public housing units.
