AT&T Center and BiblioTech offering free Wi-Fi for San Antonio families

Efforts to shrink the digital divide continue, now at home of the Spurs

AT&T Center from above. Home of the San Antonio Spurs. (Courtesy photo provided by Spurs Entertainment)

SAN ANTONIO – With school campuses closed for the foreseeable future, the AT&T Center and Bibliotech are offering ways students and their families can access the internet for free.

Spurs Give, the nonprofit of Spurs Sports & Entertainment, announced Friday that it has partnered with the AT&T Center and Aurba Networks to allow free Wi-Fi in the arena’s parking lot.

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The internet will be available from 8 a.m.-7:30 p.m. daily in Lot 3 of the AT&T Center, according to a news release. People can connect to the internet by selecting the “spursgive” Wi-Fi network.

People must stay in their cars and cannot walk on the property, according to the news release. AT&T Center employees and Bexar County Sheriff’s deputies will be on-site to enforce social distancing.

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BiblioTech also announced Friday that it will begin handing out tablets and internet hotspots for via curbside pickup and dropoff.

Starting Tuesday, people can borrow the tablets and hotspots for up to three weeks. They will need an ID to check them out.

Checkouts can be made on Tuesdays only. To make a reservation, call a preferred BiblioTech branch from 9-11 a.m. and pickup via curbside from 11 a.m.-1 p.m.

“Ever since we introduced internet hotspots in 2017, they have been in demand – with users signing up weeks in advance to bring one home," BiblioTech Director Laura Cole said in a news release. “Now with the COVID-19 pandemic closing schools and businesses, it has emphasized the need to bridge the digital divide more than ever.”

“Whether it is parents turning to online education for their children, employees using their homes as offices, or people looking for employment, this proves the internet isn’t just for entertainment anymore, it is a necessity.”

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BiblioTech, which has closed its branches due to the pandemic, said they will add an additional 150 units to its inventory to meet demand.

All devices will be sanitized as per usual protocol before returning to use, the release states.

Phone numbers for branches are: BiblioTech East, 210-631-0230; BiblioTech South, 210-631-0180; BiblioTech West, 210-631-0190.


About the Author:

Rebecca Salinas is an award-winning digital journalist who joined KSAT in 2019. She reports on a variety of topics for KSAT 12 News.