Internet access lacking for many

By KYLE ARNOLD World Staff Writer - 11/6/2009


Improvements in computer access and training would bring better jobs and more companies to Tulsa, industry officials said Tuesday at the Mayor's Workforce and Community Technology Summit.

Several nonprofit groups and community organizations are working to improve computer access to the area's low-income communities, particularly north Tulsa, where advocates say some people have little experience with computers and the Internet.

As a state, Oklahoma ranks 43rd in the nation for home computer and Internet access, according to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.

Steve King, the vice president of information technology for the Tulsa Housing Authority, said the city needs more publicly accessible computers with Internet service.

"People are using (THA) computers to work on resumes and schoolwork," he said. "This is great, but we're looking for more ways to get people computers."

He said the city is working to roll out free wireless Internet programs, but that still requires people to own computers, and some Tulsans do not.

Allen Roberts, a vice president at Cox Communications, said computers at local libraries and community centers are too crowded to serve the whole community.

"And transportation to community centers and libraries is also a problem that needs to be addressed," he said.

Cox said Internet service providers are working on systems to have Web subscribers pay for computers over the period of a contract, similar to those for cellular phones, so the up-front costs of owning a computer won't be so high.



Kyle Arnold 581-8380
kyle.arnold@tulsaworld.com


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Tulsa World Reader Comments
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Aggie, (11/6/2009 10:13:55 PM)
So, now people have a right to computers and internet access, too? There is no such thing as "free", Mr. King. It just means that somebody else is footing the bill. Why bother to work, when what you earn will be taken from you and given to somebody else?



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