TheCambridge Record
Agenda ItemsPolicy Orders

POR 2018-135

Asked the City Manager to develop a plan to achieve the above policy goals as it relates to the digital divide

How it started
May 7, 2018 · Proposed by Councillors Zondervan and McGovern, Vice Mayor Devereux, and Councillor Simmons: a formal request from the Council to the administration.
What happened
May 7, 2018 · Amendment carried Moved by Councillor Quinton Zondervan; carried on a voice vote.
the fourth paragraph by striking out the word “above” and insert thereof the word “below.”
The clerk's words, from the minutes of May 7, 2018, p. 19.
May 7, 2018 · ✅ Order adopted as amended. The Council's request went to the City Manager.
View the roll call

Present and voting at this meeting (9)

  • Alanna Mallon
  • Craig A. Kelley
  • Dennis Carlone
  • E. Denise Simmons
  • Jan Devereux
  • Marc McGovern
  • Quinton Zondervan
  • Sumbul Siddiqui
  • Timothy J. Toomey
Adopted by voice vote. A voice vote records the outcome, not individual positions. No member's yes or no is on the record (though a member can ask to be recorded in the negative in the minutes). Showing the members who cast recorded votes at this meeting. Rule 6 requires a roll call for spending over $50 or on any member's request; state law requires one for every vote when a member participates remotely. · photos: City of Cambridge
What’s next
No response on the docket: nothing has been filed back under this request's number. Answers sometimes arrive as other items; this ledger tracks only this one.
The document a council order
City of Cambridge
IN CITY COUNCIL
May 7, 2018

ORDERED: That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to develop a plan to achieve the above policy goals, which includes, but is not limited to including, the following items: 1. A clear quantitative and qualitative understanding of the digital divide in Cambridge 2. A plan developed in partnership with the Cambridge Housing Authority and other relevant agencies that ensures affordable broadband access to all public housing complexes in Cambridge in the years prior to the 2025 deadline stated below 3. An analysis to understand the feasibility and impact of utilizing or expanding the City-owned fiber optics network, City-owned conduits, and City rights of way via conditional leases to provide broadband service under terms that satisfy Cambridge’s policy goals (below) 4. Review and propose, if necessary, updates to the City’s “dig-once” policy to ensure optimal installation of conduits for leased access by third-party ISPs; and be it further ORDERED: That the City Council go on record in defining “Affordable Broadband Access” to mean broadband internet service available at home in at least 3 price categories: • Low: $15/month or less for 25 mbps • Medium: $50/month for speeds above 25 mbps • High: $100/month or more for speeds at or above 1 gbps; and be it further ORDERED: That the City Council go on record adopting the following aspirational policy goals to close the digital divide: 1. Ensure universal affordable broadband access in Cambridge by 2025 2. Ensure universal affordable broadband access to all public high school students in Cambridge by 2020 and provide City-subsidized equipment where appropriate/necessary (e.g. take-home wireless access points) 3. Prioritize disadvantaged communities in pursuit of these goals 4. Seek revenue neutral or revenue positive approaches, as appropriate, at all times in pursuit of these goals.

🗓 The meeting where this was taken up: May 7, 2018