Comparison of Municipal Wifi Systems

Municipal Wi-Fi -- Hot or Not? Many cities in the United States have used public funding to lay municipal wireless networks that allow anyone with a network capable device to connect to the internet. There are many advantages to offering WiFi networks to everyone including factors such as reduced costs per user, increased benefits to the public, and even potential increases in overall economic activity. Citizens can seamlessly access the internet through all their devices while on the go in covered networks.

The local government can also use the availability of a wireless network for things like traffic cameras and water and parking meters which are now capable of using smart networking systems. These networks can allow local residents or visitors to connect to work, find restaurants or retail outlets, relay important public service announcements such as emergency information or traffic conditions, and many more potential applications are perpetually being developed. Some cities have even developed creative ways of building the infrastructure for these networks as well as creative funding ideas.

For example, New York City uses the cities old phone booths and converts them into hotspots; furthermore, the city also allows these spaces to be used by advertisers which helps fund the network (Alleven, 2014). This analysis will briefly outline three cities that have implemented municipal WiFi networks and compare some of the features and benefits that are offered. New York City New York City has developed one of the most advanced and comprehensive municipal WiFi systems in the country.

The network is expected to be completed by the end of the year and consists of fast free public Wi-Fi across all five of the cities boroughs. The project is referred to as LinkNYC and replaces aging payphones with "links" which are modern hubs that offer WiFi at gigabit speed, offer free VoIP phone calls, and can also serve as a charging station for tablets and phones (Kosoff, 2014).

All in all, there is estimated to be up to 10,000 "links" installed throughout the city which will also have digital displays that will serve as advertising space and generate an estimated $500 million in annual revenue. Because of the creative funding, the project will not actually cost the taxpayers anything. Lincoln Nebraska With a population of just over a quarter of a million, Lincoln, Nebraska serves as an example of a small town that is also creatively deploying municipal Wi-Fi services.

In many of the cities that have implemented a municipal wireless network, there have been relatively low usage rates. A majority of Americans have high speed wireless in their homes which makes the municipal Wi-Fi plans a supplement to household connections, possibly explaining why established municipal Wi-Fi programs have generally targeted 10-25% of the population, but have only achieved a 1-2% signup rate (Springer, 2013). Furthermore, many of these municipalities only offer download speeds of about 1 Mbps.

However, Lincoln deployed its own gigabit fiber network in the city's downtown, which it shares with state government, the electric utility and the University of Nebraska and fiber is used as the backhaul for the Wi-Fi network, which is designed to provide not only free connections for residents and businesses but also for city government-oriented things like traffic cameras, parking and water meters (Alleven, 2014).

The city is investing in this infrastructure to make it one of the most connected small towns in the nation and as a tool that will ensure the city's contin (Gibson, 2015)own publically funded infrastructures. "People understand that high-speed Internet access is quickly becoming a national infrastructure issue just like the highways were in the 1950s," Chattanooga mayor Andy Berke told CNN Money.

"If the private sector is unable to provide that kind of bandwidth because of the steep infrastructure investment, then just like highways in the 1950s, the government has to consider providing that support." (Gibson, 2015) Chattanooga's investment in this type of infrastructure investment has paid massive dividends for the residents. However, it was a difficult project to implement and privately-owned companies such as Comcast actually tried to sue Chattanooga for daring to compete with them (Gibson, 2015).

However, the project was funded with the help of a $111 million grant from President Obama's federal stimulus package, the electric power board was formed out of.