Seven city parks and a retail corridor in St. Louis boast a free public Wi-Fi system, built atop the city’s own fiber network, with expansions planned for three more parks and downtown, to begin this year. The projects are in partnership with SmartWAVE Technologies, which designs, builds and manages similar public Wi-Fi systems around the country.
The effort, which began as pilot projects last year, is part of an overall strategy of growing economic and quality-of-life opportunities by making broadband access more widespread and affordable and expanding digital literacy, said Nahuel Fefer, executive director of the Community Development Administration in St. Louis.
“What we’re hoping to do is make a series of holistic investments, into housing, into free public Wi-Fi in parks, into murals and community gardens, and workforce development, and senior services, and so much more,” Fefer said during a panel discussion of the project among city and company leaders. The event was hosted by Broadband Breakfast, a broadband news and advocacy organization.
The idea, said Fefer, is to “catalyze a regenerative ecosystem, to help our city grow equitably and sustainably. And Wi-Fi is a huge part of that.”
Also part of the overall strategy is the opening of four new Digital Learning Labs, located in city recreation centers. This project is a partnership between the city and the St. Louis Development Corporation.
“It’s crucial that we remove barriers to today’s digital world,” Mayor Tishaura Jones said in a statement. “We cannot afford to exclude those who are at risk of getting left behind. Digital inclusion like this can help students keep up with school and make it easier for St. Louisans to access city services or pay their taxes, and even help those looking for employment find jobs.”
A digital inclusion study conducted by the city revealed significant gaps across access, affordability and digital literacy. Nearly 50 percent of the residents of the city were impacted by at least one of the challenges to broadband the city had identified, said Simon Huang, chief technology officer for the city of St. Louis and the St. Louis Development Corporation.
A key question the city faced was, “how do we leverage city assets in order to address the divide,” Huang said during the panel.
The project involved the coordination of city entities including Parks, Recreation, and Forestry, and the Information Technology Services Agency, along with outside groups like local school districts. Funding came from the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act.
In addition to providing free public Wi-Fi, the project helped to improve and update the city’s own fiber network, Fefer said.
“Frankly, the city fiber network was in need of some additional investments, new switches which can be expensive, and other infrastructure. So it’s been a great opportunity to build that city fiber capacity,” he said.
Some of the highest usage rates of the new Internet connections are along a four-mile stretch of Dr. Martin Luther King Drive, which officials said includes 12 access points. Phase II, to begin installation this year, will link the three additional parks and parts of downtown.
Officials aim to explore advertising opportunities, particularly with the downtown system expansion, as a revenue source for continued maintenance and operations.
“We don’t know what the right model is, and that’s part of the pilot,” Huang said.
“There’s an opportunity for a lot of eyeballs,” he said, noting the location of several sports facilities in downtown, where usage of the free Wi-Fi network is poised to grow.
