Minneapolis is officially going wireless as of Thursday, November 2nd, when the city signed a 10-year agreement with a local Internet service provider to build out the network. Here is the announcement from Mayor R. T. Rybak's email newsletter:
It’s Official: Minneapolis is Going Wireless!
Yesterday the City of Minneapolis and US Internet signed a 10-year agreement to build a citywide, high-speed, wireless Internet network. US Internet will begin building the wireless network to cover all of the city’s 59 square miles. As the network is rolled out during 2007 residents and businesses will be able to sign up for reasonably priced wireless Internet ($19.95/month) that’s accessible anywhere in the city. Our goal is to have the entire city “unwired� for Internet access by August 2007, with certain areas coming online earlier.
The Wireless Minneapolis network will revolutionize the way the City provides services to its residents and businesses. Minneapolis is among a handful of cities leading the nation in pursuing a high-speed broadband network that would make wireless communications and Internet access available citywide. Citywide wireless access will allow building inspectors to file reports from the field and firefighters to view floor plans on the way to a fire. Wireless Minneapolis will expand programs like the Minneapolis Safe City Initiative, using wireless video cameras to provide real-time visual information to police in squad cars and at police precincts.
Even more exciting about this initiative is the opportunity we have to close the digital divide for people with no or limited access to the Internet. One of the community benefits of this agreement is a Digital Inclusion fund that will help pay for efforts to bridge the digital divide. US Internet will launch the fund with $500,000 and they will give up to $10 million to the fund over the next decade.
Another great benefit is a series of community portal web pages that will provide free, neighborhood-specific information. At no charge, residents will be able to access local event calendars, government sites, community service sites and Community Technology Centers.
Our Wireless Minneapolis initiative with US Internet is the best citywide wireless agreement of any city in America today. Many thanks to the city staff and advisors in our BIS Department who made this tremendous achievement possible. Minneapolis is leading on this front and we should be. We’ve earned our reputation as tech-savvy and cutting edge and we’re proving that yet again. For more information visit the Wireless Minneapolis website.
On the same day, Frontier Communications proposed building a wireless network in the suburbs to the South of Minneapolis with no public financing. They just need approval from the cities to install their antennas on phone poles:
St. Paul Pioneer Press | 11/02/2006 | Frontier wants to bring Wi-Fi to Burnsville "The network could be finished by the end of 2008 and cover 90 percent of Burnsville, he said. Frontier DSL customers would pay about $10 more a month for wireless service than they do for DSL, which ranges from $40 to $50 a month, Kucera said."
Two widely different approaches to municipal wireless within only a few miles of each other. Which one is a better deal for consumers? For the cities served?
