AT&T and City of San José Launch Collaboration Valued at More Than a Million Dollars to Help Improve Public Safety and Bridge San José’s Digital Divide
Office of Mayor Sam Liccardo
SAN JOSÉ, Calif. — AT&T and the City of San José are expanding their existing relationship by leveraging smart city solutions to strengthen the City’s efforts to bridge San José’s digital divide.
As part of this collaboration, AT&T will deploy Internet of Things (IoT) technology across 14 San José Parks to provide public Wi-Fi connectivity, improve park lighting quality, expand public safety capabilities, and reduce energy usage across the City. AT&T is also providing $200,000 in contributions to help local community organizations tackle the digital divide. The donation will offer seniors, youth, and underrepresented communities’ access to resources, including digital literacy training and access to devices.
“While we’re making progress on bridging San José’s digital divide, we still have much work to do. This collaboration will offer our City another tool as we continue efforts to expand access to the devices and connections critical to success in our Valley. Our collaboration will AT&T also leverages technology to help make tangible improvements to safety in public spaces,” said San José Mayor Sam Liccardo. “I’m grateful to AT&T for their continued commitment to working collaboratively to reach our shared goals.”
The IoT technology that AT&T will install in the public parks will include:
- 670 smart lighting controllers and 550 LEDs that will help to improve lighting quality, reduce energy costs and minimize environmental impacts.
- 100+ Wi-Fi extenders to provide public Wi-Fi connectivity.
- 15 Digital Infrastructure nodes that will help improve public safety.
AT&T is also providing $200,000 in contributions to Youth Connections Foundation, Yu-Ai Kai Community Center, and Somos Mayfair.
“By taking a programmatic approach to smart cities, cities can truly optimize their investments in technology,” said Michael Zeto, vice president and general manager of smart cities, AT&T. “Our smart lighting controllers in city parks and our $200,000 donation for community groups to help close the digital divide are just a few examples of how we’re helping San José better the community.”
About the City of San José’s Digital Inclusion Efforts:
This public-private partnership is a part of Mayor Liccardo and the City of San José’s larger digital inclusion strategy, which aims to bridge the digital divide for the nearly 100,000 San Joséans with no reliable access to internet and internet-enabled devices. To advance these efforts, San José announced three deals with each major telecommunications company last year to usher a nearly half-a-billion-dollar investment in the City’s telecommunications infrastructure.
The agreements stand as the country’s largest, help ensure a more equitable deployment of small-cell technology, and include dozens of millions of dollars for San José’s Digital Inclusion Fund, which will help connect nearly 50,000 San Joséans in an effort to bridge San José’s digital divide.
