Cleveland ISP Secures $4.35 Million After It Surpassed 2025 Goals
The nonprofit is working to change Cleveland’s status as one of the least-connected cities.
May 21, 2026 – Cleveland City Council approved a $4.35 million performance payment to local broadband nonprofit DigitalC after the organization exceeded its 2025 goals for expanding affordable high-speed internet access and digital literacy services across the city.
The city’s Bureau of Internal Audit verified that DigitalC connected 4,862 eligible new households to broadband service and completed 10,105 eligible digital adoption service records, surpassing both targets established under its agreement with the city.
“This is more than a contract milestone. This is validation of Cleveland’s investment, DigitalC’s execution and the public, private and philanthropic partnership powering this work,” said Joshua Edmonds, CEO of DigitalC.
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DigitalC, which describes itself as the only internet service provider headquartered in Cleveland, has become a central player in the city’s broadband expansion efforts. The nonprofit also serves as the exclusive internet partner for Cleveland public schools.
The funding marks a significant milestone for what local officials and advocates call ‘The Cleveland Model’ a digital equity strategy that combines public investment, nonprofit broadband deployment, philanthropic support and community partnerships to close the digital divide.
Edmonds said the initiative demonstrates how cities can address internet affordability and access challenges through community-centered broadband deployment.
“DigitalC is proud to be America’s fastest-growing community-based network,” Edmonds said. “But this story is bigger than DigitalC. This is about what Cleveland chose to do differently.”
The investment comes as Cleveland continues working to reverse years of poor broadband access. In 2023, an analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data by Connect Your Community ranked Cleveland among the worst-connected large cities in the country, alongside Detroit. The report found nearly 15 percent of Cleveland households, roughly 25,000 homes, lacked any broadband subscription.
The National League of Cities have argued that affordability, rather than infrastructure availability alone, remains one of the largest barriers to internet adoption in low-income communities.
The original funding for DigitalC came through Cleveland’s $20 million allocation from the federal American Rescue Plan Act. That public investment was later matched by a combined $20 million contribution from the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Foundation and the David and Inez Myers Foundation to expand the nonprofit’s broadband capacity.
