Federal funding — $1.5 million worth — was secured for the High-Speed Education Network Access pilot program, known as TDI (Technology and Data Institute), U.S. Rep. Kathy Manning announced Tuesday during a news conference on the UNCG campus.
When schools moved to remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, it quickly became evident to education leaders that significant numbers of students didn't have Internet access at home. For some, their families simply couldn't afford it.
The new pilot project, Gilliam said, will address the challenge of ensuring students have reliable access to technology at no cost to students and their families. He stressed that partnerships across the community — including with Guilford County Schools and local governments — are instrumental to the success of this program.
TDI is a nonprofit organization led by UNCG, N.C. A&T, the cities of Greensboro and High Point as well as a number of others.
"It takes a big team to put all of this together," said Manning, whose 6th District includes Greensboro. "It really is forward thinking."
The project, she explained, will help ensure all students have sustainable access to educational opportunities.
"These are our tax dollars," Manning said about the funding that was passed in March. "I want to see this project in action."
Steve Lingerfelt, chief information officer for the city of High Point and TDI's board chair, said during the news conference that he expects the program will begin this fall.
The TDI team plans to use the high-speed 5G cellular network to provide connectivity for the Education Access Network. A device in homes will convert the 5G signal to a WiFi signal.
Jeff Whitworth, who serves as TDI's co-president and chief technology officer, said the team will work with Guilford County Schools to deploy these devices that students will plug into a power outlet, allowing their district-issued laptops to connect.
"This should make getting started as easy as plugging in a lamp," Whitworth said.
The neighborhoods surrounding Wiley Elementary in Greensboro and Montileu Academy in High Point are likely to be included in the pilot program, which is expected to last six to nine months, he said.
The team anticipates providing access to roughly 600 households, then expand that to between 3,000 and 5,000 households in the next phase of the project.
Supply-chain challenges and increasing chipset prices could factor into how many students can be served.
"We are still working to determine the schools that will be included in the pilot," Whitworth said.
The project's current focus is addressing "the growing digital divide of our communities' PreK-12 students," he said. "However, this infrastructure lays a great foundation that could be expanded to provide access to services like telehealth in the future."
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