Riverside to consider Wi-Fi proposal

By gedward on October 15, 2006 9:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If AT&T has its way, residents of Riverside may soon go wireless for their Internet service as a plan by the telecom giant to install a citywide, Wi-Fi system goes before the City Council on Tuesday.

2005
Downtown 'wireless' mall

2006
Downtown 'wireless' mall

However, Riverside is no stranger to free wireless Internet services as it already exists in portions of downtown, mostly in the areas adjacent to the Main Street pedestrian mall. Installed in January 2004, the downtown system covers approximately 35 square blocks and was designed primarily for use by visiting business patrons, particularly those attending conventions and/or doing business in the downtown core. Yet, residents and visitors alike have also found it to be just as convenient to pass the time during lunch breaks as well as for scouting local restaurants or when needing the hours to the local museums.

Unlike the limited downtown system, the proposed citywide system would encompass the developed areas of the 86-square-mile city and would offer both free and paid high-speed wireless Internet service. Projected to cost nearly $9 million to install, it would be the largest free network rolled out thus far by AT&T. For the free service, residents would only need to purchase any required networking components.

AT&T expects to earn back their initial investment with advertising generated from the free service as well as monies collected from the paid high-speed packages. It also plans to charge a fee to other providers to "piggyback" on the system. In addition, AT&T has included various high-speed packages specifically designed for municipal uses, such as streaming of live video from police and fire incidents. If the city decides to purchase these additional packages, it would pay up to $4 million over 5 years.

If approved, the Wi-Fi project could be in place by mid-2008.

An upcoming Broadband Wireless Conference will offer information for both public and municipal uses of a large-scale Wi-Fi network. The conference, scheduled for Nov. 8th in Riverside, will include a live demonstration incorporating municipal/public safety uses of a wireless network. Both professional and public end-users are invited to attend the conference.

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