LOS ANGELES – Highly cost effective and scalable, Minneapolis based Kwikbit Inc.'s proprietary wireless broadband (2.0) is quickly delivering the "last mile" connectivity essential to bridge the digital divide. Having successfully deployed with the State of California's Department of Education in late 2020, Kwikbit is now delivering broadband access to select L.A. County's Harbor Boys and Girls Clubs. In addition to connecting the clubs themselves, Kwikbit's point to multi-point technology will be leveraged to deliver broadband to adjacent, low-income communities which house many Boys and Girls members.
"Accessible, reliable, and high-speed connectivity is a huge issue for our children, and we are very excited about what this technology could mean in terms of narrowing the divide," said Mary Hewitt, Executive Director, LA County Alliance for Boys & Girls Clubs. "Taking this a step further and using the clubs as hubs to connect the low-income areas that typically surround our campuses will be game-changing," Hewitt went on to say.
Kwikbit's point to multi point wireless broadband picks up where fiber lets off, delivering multi-gigabit symmetrical connections (Broadband) at a small fraction of the time and cost required to deploy fiber.
"We are very excited to be collaborating with the LA County Boys and Girls Alliance on this critical initiative. This effort is right at the heart of the matter (digital divide)," said Joe Costello, CEO of Kwikbit and former Boys and Girls club member. Costello continued, "We are confronted with the real possibility of setting back a generation of children due to digital inequality, and as a country we simply do not have the luxury of time. An affordable and scalable broadband solution is paramount to solving this problem."
Boys & Girls Club of the LA Harbor serves over 2,600 children daily at 20 locations and deployment will begin this month at their Mahar Club House in Wilmington.
"Our kids are unable to connect via "hot spots", as they simply are not strong enough", said Mike Lansing, CEO Boys and Girls of the LA Harbor. "Multi-gig wireless distribution on and off campus via Kwikbit is a significant development for the club children we serve."
Costello concluded, "Governor Newsom's executive order (broadband) is visionary, as leveraging existing government assets through a cooperative interagency effort will serve as a template for how this will be done throughout the United States. The missing piece of that puzzle is a highly affordable and scalable last-mile broadband solution that ties it all together quickly and efficiently. Kwikbit is that solution."
