Queensbridge explores its digital future via Internet sharing

Why do so many people pay for the Internet when we could all be sharing? Apparently, we aren’t the only ones who have wondered this. The East River Development Alliance will be partnering with a company called KeyWiFi to help bridge the digital divide in Queensbridge through Internet sharing. The program will allow residents to use their neighbor’s WiFi networks for a low fee, and Key WiFi will take a cut for brokering the deal. The program, dubbed the Digital Futures Project, should help get low-income residents connected and may assist all of us in cutting our Internet bills in the future, according to Talking Points Memo.

“Our idea is that this is something than can be replicated everywhere,” said Adam Black, founder of KeyWiFi. The company created a relationship with ERDA and is in the process of collecting surveys to assess the interest level in Queensbridge. Black estimated that of the thousands of households in Queensbridge, only 30 percent were online. “Our website and the technology is already built, it’s a question as to how we are going to roll it out,” Black said.

KeyWiFi is looking for community partners to assist in its efforts to get people online, and envisions a system wherein Internet subscribers could lease their service to others during the whole day or just a portion of the day (if they so desire). “Time Warner Cable and Verizon aren’t the only game in town,” Black said, dropping some knowledge about FCC regulations.

Black expects service to begin in Queensbridge this year, and encourages residents to help the process along by filling out a survey.