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Parts of the Pleasant Hill and Meadowgreen neighbourhoods now have free public wireless Internet access, thanks to a pilot project from the City of Saskatoon.
The city started its year-long public Wi-Fi pilot Thursday in an effort to address the “digital divide,” by creating more equitable access to the World Wide Web.
The pilot has an estimated cost of $250,000, and after a year, the city said an assessment will determine whether the project is expanded, continued or ended. That decision will be based on usage, the quality of service and feedback from residents, the city said.
The pilot means about 1,500 people will have Internet access from at or near their homes or workplaces at no cost, the city said.
Pleasant Hill and Meadowgreen were chosen based on equity measures, the city said, including the percentages of youth, senior, immigrant and Indigenous populations, as well as the close proximity to existing infrastructure in order to keep costs low.
“In December 2016 the Canadian government declared Internet access a basic right of all Canadian citizens,” the city said in an online statement.
“The COVID crisis — including the imposed isolation and the move of more and more services online — further highlighted the need for equitable access to Internet services.”
The cost of existing Internet options can be prohibitively high for some, the city noted, and Wi-Fi hotspot access can be unreliable.
The public Wi-Fi includes a list of terms and conditions which users must agree to as a condition of use.
Free public Wi-Fi is also available at a number of city-owned facilities around Saskatoon.
