Baltimore County Offers Free Internet To Low-Income Residents For 6 Months, Expands Wi-Fi Access At BCPL Locations
TOWSON, MD. (WJZ) -- Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski took steps this week to expand internet access across the county.
The county will offer six months of free internet access through the Internet Essentials program for low-income residents through CARES Act funding.
Comcast's Internet Essentials program currently offers a router and high-speed access to qualifying low-income households for $9.95 per month.
The county is sponsoring six months of that service to all existing program participants across the county, nearly 11,000 households, the county executive's office said.
"With our children learning remotely, many people working from home, and critical services like medical appointments moving online, we have been reminded of our responsibility to ensure that every resident has access to affordable high-speed internet service," Olszewski said. "Our team has taken a number of important steps to ensure equitable access so that our residents don't fall behind and we will continue to innovate in order to further expand service across our County."
They also expanded public Wi-Fi availability in locations around the county. All 19 branches of the Baltimore County Public Library and all 28 Recreation and Parks locations now have high-speed external public Wi-Fi.
You can find an interactive County map of Wi-Fi locations located here.
County Executive Olszewski's office said they also have utilized CARES funding to support the County Library's Wi-Fi hotspot loan program.
BCPL has ordered 300 more hotspot devices and over 200 Chromebooks available for checkout. Anyone interested in checking out a device can learn more here.
