Internet Access Lags In Newark – But Infrastructure Is There, Study Says

NEWARK, NJ — It’s nice when your building is wired for high-speed internet. But it isn’t much help if you can’t afford it – as many people in Newark already know, a recent study says.

A new study from local nonprofits Project Ready and Newark Trust for Education found that the biggest barrier to broadband access is likely “affordability” – not the lack of physical infrastructure. In other words, income and poverty are the best predictors of a neighborhood’s access to high-speed broadband, researchers said.

Read the full report and see its methodology here.

As part of the study, the state’s five largest cities were selected for analysis: Newark, Jersey City, Paterson, Elizabeth and Toms River. For each city, the average download speed and household characteristic data were retrieved and cross-referenced at the zip code level.

Here’s what researchers found:

To further test the findings, a narrower geographic sample was scrutinized: Newark.

While New Jersey’s average download speed is 136 Mbps, the average Newark family has a broadband speed of only 79.5 Mbps – despite the infrastructure being in place. No Newark zip code averages 100 Mbps, the amount a family of four needs, researchers said.

“This research proves that households in the lowest income brackets have internet access at roughly half the rate of those in the highest,” said Ronald Chaluisan, executive director of the Newark Trust for Education.

There has been some help from federal and state programs, the study noted:

“The [federal] Bipartisan Infrastructure Law established the Affordable Connectivity Program to provide qualifying households with up to a $30 per month discount off their internet bills. In addition, New Jersey was recently awarded over $6 million in “Internet for All” planning grants from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to deploy affordable, high-speed internet throughout the state and close the digital equity gap.”

Other government programs exist that take aim at the digital divide, such as New Jersey’s Lifeline & Affordable Connectivity Program, which helps make phone and internet service more affordable for low-income residents of the state.

But there’s much more work remaining before this long-running problem is solved in the Garden State, advocates said.

“It doesn’t matter if homes are wired for broadband if residents can’t afford it,” CEO of Project Ready Shennell McCloud said.

“The internet is no longer a luxury – it’s a necessity in today’s world, and poor internet service gets in the way of school, work, and everything else a family needs to thrive,” McCloud said, referencing the push for laptops that took place in schools during the coronavirus pandemic.

“A Chromebook and hotspot were a good first step, but it’s not enough to close the real digital divide that continues to exist,” McCloud said. “Now is the time for a concerted effort by all stakeholders to bring true ‘internet equity’ to New Jersey.”

SURVEY, SPEED TEST IN NEWARK

Researchers also noted that the City of Newark is launching a city-wide broadband survey and speed test as part of an effort to create, high-speed internet access on a “city-wide” basis.

Newark officials have been calling for local residents to take part in the survey for weeks. The deadline is Jan. 25.

“The City of Newark owns it's broadband and is looking to bring free or low-cost internet access to residents, businesses and the Newark community,” officials recently wrote in a social media post. “We need your input to better understand and work towards making this possible.”

The city has been making headway on internet equality over the past few years, officials have previously reported.

For example, Newark Fiber – the city's public-private gigabit data network that launched in 2016 – offers supercharged, high-speed internet connections in participating residential and commercial buildings, parks and on some streets of the city. Read More: Free Wi-Fi In Newark; City 1st In NJ To Use High-Tech Kiosks

Pricing ranges from $150 to $2,250 per month and up for commercial customers, to $50 per month or less for residential customers.

“Newark has the fastest fiber in the world in limited areas, but our strategy beyond that is to empower residents and businesses in every neighborhood with access to high-speed internet,” Mayor Ras Baraka said in December 2019.

• See related: 'I'll Have The Tacos': Newark Mayor Launches Free Wi-Fi Kiosks
• See related: Public Wi-Fi Network Launches In Newark's Ironbound Section
• See related: Free Internet For Residents Of Senior Housing Building In Newark

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