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  "description": "Juliet Fink Yates says city is slowly meeting its broadband goals.",
  "path": "/philadelphia-broadband-leader-shares-progress/",
  "publishedAt": "2025-05-29T16:01:35.000Z",
  "site": "https://broadbandbreakfast.com",
  "tags": [
    "_Philly Free Wi-Fi_",
    "_****Learn more about Speeding BEAD Summit****_",
    "What is Broadband Breakfast?",
    "_PHL ConnectED initiative_",
    "_Broadband Breakfast Live Online event_"
  ],
  "textContent": "WASHINGTON, May 29, 2025 – Broadband Infrastructure and Digital Inclusion Manager for the City of Philadelphia, **Juliet Fink Yates** , discussed her role in building Philadelphia’s future broadband goals.\n\nFiber Broadband Association’s weekly Wednesday show, Fiber for Breakfast, met with Yates. With over 15 years of experience working in digital literacy and community technology, she expressed the need for the city of Philadelphia to be truly connected through fiber.\n\nOne of her initiatives is _Philly Free Wi-Fi_, a two-year plan with Verizon to get 180 parks and rec sites with high-speed internet.\n\n\n\n_****Learn more about Speeding BEAD Summit****_\n\n What is Broadband Breakfast? \n\n“We are moving along really quickly,” Yates said, “the fiber has been installed, the Wi-Fi is working. You can go and get that Wi-Fi on your phone if you need it.”\n\nYates shared her excitement for the work that is being done for the Philly Free Wi-Fi and the tools that already exist for low-income families to use today. Philly Free Wi-Fi has locators: maps that show the active hot spots in the area where the Wi-Fi will be strongest.\n\nPhilly Free Wi-Fi follows the _PHL ConnectED initiative_, which connected free subsidized internet connections through Internet Essentials and hotspots through T-Mobile during the pandemic.\n\nWhile the PHL ConnecteED initiative gave people free wi-fi, Yates recounted that its biggest hurdle was getting into people’s homes.\n\n“Even after residents received a code to sign up, many struggled to take the next step,” said Yates. “They needed hands-on help to get connected.”\n\nThis gap led the city to expand its digital navigator program, offering one-on-one support to guide residents through setup and troubleshoot barriers to access the Wi-Fi.\n\nLast year, Yates made similar comments about the need for Philadelphia to have reliable broadband in a _Broadband Breakfast Live Online event_.\n\n“Philadelphia has the infrastructure, we are going to look like we are served,” Yates said, “and yet 14.7 percent of Philadelphia households still have no internet subscription in the home.”\n\nYates continued the same thought in her message on Wednesday, and added on the struggle that “about 25 percent don't have a laptop or desktop at home.”\n\nTo illustrate the need for both a reliable internet connection and the proper devices, Yates explained that her team is finding that the need for computers is linked to getting employed, doing well in school, and stepping out of the dependence on a single smartphone.\n\n“Sometimes a smartphone is their only lifeline to any sort of services,” Yates said. The scope of reliable internet and proper devices is beginning to be solved by Yates and her team.\n\nYates hoped for lower internet prices with the new BEAD deal, and said, “Just because you build the system doesn't mean it's easy for folks to connect or afford to connect.”",
  "title": "Philadelphia Broadband Leader Shares Progress",
  "updatedAt": "2026-03-11T03:28:44.221Z"
}