A new initiative to provide free internet connections for all students receiving free or reduced lunches in Hamilton County has already connected more 4,400 local households since the program was announced in late July, extending free broadband connections to more than 6,800 low- and moderate-income students in the Chattanooga area.
EPB President David Wade told directors of the Electric Power Board Friday that crews from EPB Fiber Optics are working to connect the internet service to households as part of the new HCS Ed Connect program.
“We’re seeing a big impact already on the number of students who have Internet access that didn’t have access before,” Wade said. “I know that we would like to be faster than that, but we are moving along at a good clip.”
Wade said he expects it will take several months to connect most of the 28,500 students in Hamilton County schools that qualify for free- or reduced-price lunches at Hamilton County public schools served by EPB.
“I knew going into this program that it wasn’t something we could do overnight, but just in the past few weeks we’ve made really good progress,” he said.