As a city with a reputation since 2020 as the least connected major city in the country, Cleveland is today making a comeback—bridging the digital divide through DigitalC’s municipal internet program.
DigitalC, a nonprofit internet service provider serving Cleveland and Detroit and based in the MidTown Tech Hive in Hough, reached a milestone last week—recording 6,000 high-speed internet connections in Cleveland households since January 2024.
In January 2024 DigitalC launched its citywide broadband network, with the support of public, private, and philanthropic partners, to close Cleveland’s digital divide by pairing affordable home internet with digital skills training and long-term support.
By April 2025, the company had served 4,000 customers and then marked 5,000 customers in late June 2025. Then, on Monday, Sept. 8, Aaliyah Cashdollar and her six- and seven-year-old sons had the honor of being the 6,000th customers to receive free high-speed internet through DigitalC’s free internet program for qualifying Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) families.
Cashdollar, a Clark Fulton resident, sends her sons to CMSD’s Orchard STEM School, which relies heavily on computers in its curriculum. “They need internet at home for their tablets,” Cashdollar says. “Literally, the whole school curriculum is on the tablets.”
Cashdollar was researching her home internet options when a friend told her about DigitalC. “I was lucky, I was able to get [installation] scheduled for the next day,” she recalls, adding that other providers had four-day waits.
As a Cuyahoga Community College student studying to be a home inspector, Cashdollar also has a need for internet at home.
CMSD pays the fees for CMSD families, so Cashdollar is connected for free.
“We have it for free until graduation,” she says, adding that she thinks the monthly fees are reasonable for residents who do not have a student in CMSD.
For Cleveland residents without students in CMSD, DigitalC offers the service to Cleveland residents for $18 per month.
“We are the most digitally improved city in America,” says DigitalC CEO Joshua Edmonds. “We’re on the path from worst to first.”
To celebrate their 6,000th customer, Edmonds and other DigitalC team members surprised Cashdollar on her installation day last week, armed with gift baskets and accompanied by a four-piece band made up of Frank Walton on horns, Kenn Bell on the keyboard, Isaiah Armstrong on bass, Deion Williams on drums.
“We had so much fun that day,” recalls Cashdollar. “They brought gifts and balloons. There was a jazz band playing—my neighbors started to gather because of the loud music—and the CEO came to fill me in about what DigitalC is.”
Steadfast commitment
The initiative represents a unique approach among major U.S. cities. While other urban centers considered similar programs using American Rescue Plan Act funds, Edmonds says Cleveland was the only one to follow through.
“A number of cities wanted to do what DigitalC is doing, and then they kind of got cold feet,” he explains. “Cleveland stood 10 toes down and committed to building this network.”
The DigitalC program uses next-generation Fixed Wireless Access (ngFWA) technology from Silicon Valley-based Tarana Wireless. “It’s a point of pride that we took the best in Silicon Valley and brought it to Cuyahoga Valley,” says Edmonds.
The impact on Cleveland families has been significant—Edmonds says traditional internet providers charge about $70 per month for DigitalC’s comparable $18 monthly internet service,
“We are saving Clevelanders around $3 million a year,” Edmonds notes. “We don’t want to just be looked at as bridging the digital divide… we are advancing this city’s economic prosperity by way of saving people money.”
The word is out
The program’s success is spreading organically through neighborhoods. “When you put one thing of value in the neighborhood, it spreads,” Edmonds says. “When we make investments in these neighborhoods, it seems to reverberate positively.”
The initiative emerged from a partnership between two Cleveland mayoral administrations and various community stakeholders. Former Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson allocated initial funding, while current Mayor Justin Bibb’s administration worked with Cleveland City Council to establish program parameters and accountability measures.
DigitalC’s goal is to connect 23,500 households by 2028, with annual targets throughout the timeline.
“This year’s goal was to connect 4,700 households,” says Edmonds, “and we’re crushing that goal right now.” He adds that the company will hold a similar celebration to Cashdollar’s when the 7,000 mark is hit.
“We’re at 6,000 today, in a month-and-a-half, or even earlier, we’ll be at 7,000,” Edmonds boasts. “Then it’s another very critical milestone. We’re just appreciative for anyone who wants to lean in and tell what I believe is a phenomenal story that really undergirds Cleveland.”
DigitalC’s program primarily serves residents who were previously on the federal Affordable Connectivity Program, a pandemic subsidy that has since ended.
“When that subsidy stopped, this new network started,” Edmonds explains. “A lot of Clevelanders didn’t even feel that massive inflation of internet costs.”
Edmonds argues that the success of DigitalC’s program could serve as a blueprint for tackling other complex urban challenges. “Now that we’ve solved this, I think it allows us to get the inertia to solve other things in the city too,” he says.
With a 4.8-star Google rating and expanding neighborhood coverage, the transformation from being known as America’s least connected city to DigitalC’s model of digital inclusion that meets its connectivity goals indicates Cleveland is on the right track.
An added boost
Additionally, on Tuesday, Sept. 16, DigitalC announced a $500,000 in-kind donation of cutting-edge broadband technology from Google Fiber (GFiber) to help accelerate DigitalC’s mission of delivering affordable, high-speed home internet to underserved Ohio communities.
The donation includes ngFWA Tarana equipment, which DigitalC already uses in its citywide network, to expand its Canopy home internet service to offer symmetrical 100 Mbps internet at an affordable rate to even more neighborhoods in Ohio. The additional GFiber equipment will allow faster deployment in areas that have historically lacked access—without the delays or costs of laying fiber.
“We’re proud to back DigitalC’s work to make reliable internet access affordable and available, not just in cities, but in every community,” said Jess George, GFiber’s head of digital equity & community impact. “This partnership is proof that community-driven solutions, backed by the right technology, can deliver real progress”
Edmonds agrees that GFiber’s investment will allow DigitalC to add bandwidth and scale its Cleveland model.
“This community-based blueprint proves that next-generation technology can be deployed quickly, trusted deeply, and scaled effectively to deliver the superior internet experience more communities deserve,” he says.