Chicago presses on with wireless network plans
AT&T, EarthLink, and NextWLAN are the three candidates being evaluated by Chicago city officials as to who will best be able to develop and deploy a citywide wireless network. Plans call for a decision to be made by this fall.
After announcing its plans last year and issuing one of the most comprehensive and detailed RFPs in muni WiFi history (if you can couch it in those terms), the Second City seems to be progressing toward making a decision that could make it the bellwether of citywide wireless, even over Philadelphia.
Of course, with all of the difficulties in San Francisco’s proposed network, big cities might be wary of how to address the muni WiFi question, but Chicago seems to have gone about it the right way. There are technical issues to address, including access by residents and businesses who occupy space in buildings above a certain height, but surely the winning bidder will take the necessary steps to close those gaps as much as possible when they sit down and negotiate a contract with the city.
At this point, cities like Chicago who are doing their utmost to “bridge the digital divide” have to prove to the majority of residents and businesses that muni WiFi is an affordable and reliable choice for internet access. We are seeing a paradigm shift whereby the economic feasibility of developing these networks is standing above all other considerations.
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