172 more Miami-Dade parks in line for free wi-fi

Written by Miami Today on March 25, 2026

Long-delayed free wi-fi in all 260 Miami-Dade parks got a jolt of power as county commissioners ordered Mayor Daniella Levine Cava to push installations ahead within 60 days.

Only 88 parks now have free wi-fi, said a resolution by René García that passed unanimously last week without comment. Yet in 2017 commissioners had ordered then-mayor Carlos Giménez to have every park covered.

The county in February 2020 targeted free wi-fi in 66 parks by that June, up from the then-current 50, Mr. Giménez told commissioners in a memo, but it was millions of dollars short of resources to cover all 220 developed parks.

To fill the gap from 66 parks to 220, he wrote, the Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces Department was looking for potential public-private partnerships to do the job.

“Examples of such partnerships include the Los Angeles Parks and Recreation partnering with the American Park Network to provide a turnkey solution for free public wi-fi at their parks, and the State of Arizona working with concession vendors to include wi-fi service as a requirement for doing business in parks,” he wrote.

The parks department, Mr. Giménez wrote, was also studying broader, citywide and countywide technology initiatives with local service providers such as AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile that already had free public wi-fi in other parks systems nationwide.

Last week’s resolution required that Mayor Levine Cava’s report to commissioners include a timeline for wi-fi installation, the infrastructure that would be required, and the plan for installing wi-fi at the 172 parks that aren’t now covered.

With only 88 parks connected, Mr. García’s resolution said, that leaves uncovered “parks located in digital deserts or communities with limited or without access to reliable internet, without necessary connectivity.”

The mayor is to report in writing within 60 days if she can’t expand wi-fi due to lack of funds or for any other reason.