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Google Pittsburgh will Expand Public Wi-Fi to Two Neighborhoods

Google's Pittsburgh office said the grants to the city's Larimer and East Liberty neighborhoods fit with the company's core mission to promote universal Internet access.

(TNS) -- Larimer will become the first city neighborhood other than Downtown with public access to Wi-Fi through a $150,000 grant Google Pittsburgh is providing to install a network, officials said.

Mayor Bill Peduto and representatives of Google and Larimer's Kingsley Association will announce the project Thursday evening at the Kingsley headquarters on Frankstown Avenue.

Google will provide the funding and two years of free maintenance and support costs for a network that will cover about 30 percent of Larimer and bordering sections of East Liberty. Velociti Inc., based on Missouri, will install the network and is discounting its costs for Google as part of the deal, spokeswoman Layla Barbur said.

Kingsley plans to seek more funding for coverage of the entire neighborhood, Executive Director Malik Bankston said.

“It will obviously help to close the so-called digital divide that's been identified in lower-income neighborhoods, and secondarily, it's going to provide a high-quality Internet access that is especially important for school-age kids,” Bankston said.

Larimer, which has about 1,730 people, is one of Pittsburgh's poorest neighborhoods.

Kamal Nigam, who heads Google's Pittsburgh office, said the grant fits with the company's core mission to promote universal Internet access.

“According to 2013 census data, more than 20 percent of Pittsburgh homes lack Internet access,” he said in a statement. “... We are happy to support installation of a Wi-Fi network that will increase Internet access for our neighbors.”

Plans call for the network to be available by early spring for new homes and apartments being built in the area of East Liberty Boulevard and Larimer Avenue.

The network would cover about 350 homes in the $30 million, Department of Housing and Urban Development-funded development known as Choice Neighborhoods in Larimer; 100 existing homes in the Enright Court section of East Liberty, and neighboring residences, Bankston said.

Residents will have access to wireless high-speed Internet inside and outside their homes, he said. Google Pittsburgh's office is in Bakery Square in Larimer.

“This is a major step on our quest to bridge the digital divide in Pittsburgh,” Peduto said. “Expanding access to technology and information is essential to creating equal opportunities for all Pittsburghers.”

©2016 The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (Greensburg, Pa.) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.