Charlamagne Tha God helps fund Wi-Fi at Beltline Boulevard apartments

With help from big donors like radio personality Charlamagne Tha God and Elevation Church, Wi-Fi was installed for residents of the Colony and North Pointe Apartments on Beltline Boulevard Friday morning.

The donations helped fund a partnership between city of Columbia officials and several technology companies to increase broadband access. Mayor Steven Benjamin completed this effort through IGNITE CITIES, an organization of mayors nationwide working to increase internet availability.

Gregory Electric donated its time and installed ten solar powered wire mesh nodes at the Colony Apartments Friday morning. The nodes were manufactured by tech company Mesh++.

Sam Johnson, a project consultant at Nexsen Pruett and former aid to Benjamin, spearheaded the project in Columbia.

The internet comes at no charge to residents or the city.

The main purpose behind the service is to help students unable to access remote learning and also parents who may need to work from home because of the coronavirus.

“As a father of three, I hate that two of my children had to do virtual learning, but you immediately get brought back to reality when you realize something that you take for granted, like Wi-Fi, is a luxury that other people don’t have,” said Charlamagne Tha God.

Charalamagne, a Charleston native, is most widely known for his work on the nationally syndicated radio show The Breakfast Club.

Instead of doing his annual book bag drive in South Carolina this year, Charlamagne decided it would be more helpful to deliver internet services and reached out to Benjamin.

“I reached out to Mayor Benjamin just to ask him what can we do for kids who are experiencing these types of challenges, and he told me exactly what was needed, so now it’s done. I’m going to always be there for my people. When I say ‘South Carolina, we all we got’: I truly mean that,” said Charlamagne Tha God.

Since July, IGNITE CITIES has already brought Wi-Fi relief to neighborhoods in Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami and New Orleans.

This story was originally published September 26, 2020 at 5:00 AM.