Media Coverage

The San José Digital Inclusion Fund (DIF), formalized on Tuesday, will partner the city with the California Emerging Technology Fund (CETF) and marshal capital to bridge its digital divide - an estimated $24.1 million in revenue over 10 years, from small-cell and fiber contracts with [...]

It costs phone companies like Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile $750 per pole to install a small cell antenna, said Sunne McPeak, President and CEO of the nonprofit California Emerging Technology Fund, or CETF. With each provider eager to build out new 5G networks in the […]

San José has come up with an interesting way to close the digital divide. KCBS Radio reporter Mike Colgan says rents from telecom companies for putting WIFI antennas on city light poles are being used to fund a digital inclusion program.

On Tuesday, the City Council voted to create the San José Digital Inclusion Fund. Once up and running, the $24 million initiative will be the largest of its kind in the country and would be aimed at bridging the city's digital divide. Over 10 years, [...]

Mayor Sam Liccardo Embargoed: February 12, 2019 Contact: Ahmad Chapman, Office of Mayor Liccardo; 408-535-4857or ahmad.chapman@sanjoseca.gov Stephanie Craig, Mayor's Office of Technology & Innovation; 202-329-7545 or Stephanie.craig@apeironstrategy.com San José Launches Digital Inclusion Fund to Close the Digital Divide San José, Calif. -Mayor Sam Liccardo today announced that the City [...]

San José city officials are pushing for equitable access to technology through a $24 million fund that could bring internet access to low-income areas and ease a "digital divide" in the Silicon Valley over the next 10 years. The Digital Inclusion Fund was approved in [...]

The city will partner with the nonprofit California Emerging Technology Fund (CETF) to manage the $24 million initiative, which will be funded by the small cell usage fees telecommunications companies pay. "Digital inclusion is a 21st century civil right," said Sunne Wright McPeak, the president [...]

While $2.2 million per year is insufficient, it will be seed money that Sunne McPeak believes will prime the pump to get foundations, grants, and corporate donations flowing into the Digital Inclusion Fund to help prepare young people for careers in computer science and related [...]

SAN JOSE, California – An innovative program to address the long-standing issue of the digital divide in San Jose is being heralded as a model for other cities across the Bay Area and California. It’s creating a special fund called the Digital Inclusion Fund with […]