The city of Wichita has started a new experimental project that will give more residents access to the internet. A donation from T-Mobile is making hot spot devices available to provide free wireless internet access for residents.
Mayor Jeff Longwell announced the program Thursday at his weekly news conference. He said the Coolpad Surf hotspots can be checked out for two weeks at a time, and they are available at the Colvin and Atwater neighborhood resource centers. The devices are available to residents 18 years of age and older.
Longwell said recent studies have found that 26 percent of Wichita homes do not have access to the internet. He said the program will offer the access to the people who need it the most, so the city can have more well-informed and connected citizens who can help the community and the local economy.
The mayor said the hotspots will have filtering that will prevent children from getting access to inappropriate content, and the devices will also have protections from fraud, phishing, malicious sites and spyware.
The city will use data from the pilot program to determine if the program will continue and if it can be expanded.
