More U.S. Cities Pushing Public Wireless Nets

Aug. 22, 2005 — -- Local governments routinely provide water, sewer, sanitation, and emergency services such as police and fire. But pretty soon, you may be able to add low-cost -- perhaps even free -- wireless Internet access to the list.

Over the last few years, wireless Net, or Wi-Fi, technology has found an important place among digital consumers and access providers. And an increasing number of U.S. cities -- ranging from large metropolitan areas to small rural townships -- are jumping on the bandwagon.

Last week, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom announced plans to develop a Wi-Fi network system that would cover the main 49 square miles of metropolitan area south of the Golden Gate bridge. The system, which could cost as much as $18 million to build, would allow anyone within the City by the Bay high-speed wireless access to the Internet.

But San Francisco -- already considered one of America's high-tech meccas -- isn't the only U.S. municipality to announce such plans; nor is it the most notable.

In the past two years, more than two dozen cities have built or are planning to build similar so-called "metropolitan area networks," or MANs. The most ambitious MANs to date are being pursued by Corpus Christi, Texas, and Philadelphia -- projects that would cover 147 and 135 square miles, respectively.

The reasons to build such wide-ranging and publicly accessible networks are many. But chief among them, say proponents, is to help ease the so-called "digital divide." Since MANs would be built, funded and managed like other public service works, they could be low-cost Net access alternatives for low-income neighborhoods.

"We did a survey that showed in our low-income and disadvantaged neighborhoods, only 10 [percent] to 25 percent have Net access. Of those, 72 percent is with slower dial-up services," says Dianah Neff, chief information officer for the city of Philadelphia. "We believe that it [the Wireless Philadelphia MAN] will be helpful to those communities … to make sure that everyone has the basic skills and ability to compete in the knowledge economy."