Internal audit finds minor duplicate records in DigitalC contract; company reports Q1 subscriber growth

An internal audit of the City of Cleveland’s performance-based contract with DigitalC concluded March 28 that most submitted records were valid but that 102 entries on DigitalC’s 2024 digital-adoption list should be removed because of duplicates or address issues.

Commissioner Brandt of Internal Audit told the Utilities Committee on April 17 that auditors tested subscription and adoption records and reviewed names and addresses. "I did not observe any intentional manipulation of the data," Brandt said, and described the excluded records as the result of manual, decentralized collection processes, spelling and address inconsistencies, and missing verification steps.

Because of the removals, the audit said the 2024 adoption list should be reduced from 7,619 submitted records to 7,517 eligible records. For internet subscriptions the audit reported 2,801 new customers in 2024; for digital literacy/adoption the corrected count was 7,517 eligible records, according to the audit memo distributed to council.

DigitalC provided a quarterly update at the same meeting. Ricardo Edmonds, representing DigitalC, said the company recorded 1,148 newly connected households in Q1 (Jan. 1–March 31) and reported 2,458 residents trained in that quarter. Edmonds said DigitalC has exceeded 4,000 subscribed households citywide to date and described Q1 as a strong start. "To date we've exceeded, we're now over 4,000 households in this city," Edmonds told the committee.

DigitalC and council members discussed coverage, outreach and program targets. The company said its 2025 contract goals include 4,700 new subscribing households and 10,000 residents trained in digital literacy over the year. Edmonds said the company’s coverage footprint would extend citywide once the last roughly 10 towers are lit and that full city build-out is on an 18-month timeline.

Committee members pressed DigitalC on marketing, where installs are concentrated, and how the company verifies that counted customers meet contract eligibility (households previously unconnected or on the Affordable Connectivity Program). Edmonds and staff said they use sign-in sheets, address verification and a CRM with traceable direct-mail QR codes and phone numbers. The audit team said it reviewed raw subscription data and verified addresses.

Council members also asked about partner subsidies and targeted programs: DigitalC said Cleveland Metropolitan School District and MetroHealth have subsidy arrangements, and a Cleveland Clinic subsidy supports residents in the Fairfax neighborhood for a limited term. Committee members asked DigitalC to provide ward-level lists showing concentrations of customers and streets with higher penetration; DigitalC agreed to supply ward-by-ward data.

Committee members thanked Internal Audit for the review and said the audit provides a baseline for future, quarterly contract reviews. No formal committee vote was taken on the audit; the audit results were accepted for committee record and DigitalC provided the quarterly operational update.

Key numeric takeaways the audit and DigitalC reported on the record were: the audit removed 102 adoption records from DigitalC’s 2024 adoption submission (reducing 7,619 to 7,517 eligible adoption records); the audit identified 2,801 new internet subscriptions in 2024; DigitalC reported 1,148 newly connected households and 2,458 residents trained in Q1 2025; DigitalC reported more than 4,200 total subscribed households to date (DigitalC gave 4,200–4,250 as current totals during the hearing).