The County of Los Angeles' Internal Services Department (ISD) has partnered with broadband provider WeLink Communications (WeLink) to bring affordable and reliable broadband internet to underserved areas in East Los Angeles/Boyle Heights and South Los Angeles. WeLink will offer a low-cost internet plan for qualifying households and ultra-high-speed broadband internet across 68 square miles, where there are over 275,000 households and small businesses, as announced recently by WeLink.
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Partnership for Connectivity
The Los Angeles County Community Broadband Networks (CBN) initiative was created to help address the hundreds of thousands of households in the County estimated to be without home internet service. The County's Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a series of Motions beginning in 2021 to address this issue and selected WeLink as the partner for the first two CBN areas.
WeLink's Approach
WeLink provides high-speed internet access using wireless technology utilising millimetre-wave signals and customer-mounted receivers to create a mesh network.
WeLink will reportedly offer a low-cost home internet plan to 50,000 qualified households in South Los Angeles and East Los Angeles/Boyle Heights, surpassing the initial goal set in 2022 of serving 12,500 households. WeLink will also offer plans starting at USD 65 per month to households without qualification requirements.
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Anticipated Rollout
Construction is expected to begin in the Summer of 2024, with internet service rolling out beginning in Fall of 2024. Major funding is provided by the American Rescue Plan Act.
Additionally, funding for this project has been provided in part through a grant for Local Agency Technical Assistance from a program administered by the California Public Utilities Commission, WeLink said.
