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It’s official. By early next year, 38 cities in Silicon Valley will have access to a free wireless network -- one of the largest in the country, reaching some 2.4 million people. But will broadband Internet service really end up being available and affordable to everyone? How should municipal networks such as Silicon Valley's be built and operated to reach groups that are least served by broadband now?

On Oct.7, Santa Clara University's Center for Science, Technology and Society, and the Broadband Institute of California will host a public hearing on municipal broadband and the underserved from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Arts and Sciences building. The hearing is part of a project to educate representatives from the region's underserved groups so that they can make well-informed policy recommendations about commissioning their own broadband networks.