City to debut wireless network for this fall

After several years of lobbying, planning and installation, Milledgeville’s wireless network is set for launch on Oct. 31. On this fall target date, the city finally gets to take advantage of a high-tech makeover.

Milledgeville received an $862,000 grant from the Wireless Communities’ Georgia program back in 2006 for a wireless build out. Six other Georgia communities,including nearby Dublin, were grant recipients.

“Our name got thrown in mainly because of our population of state agencies,” city planner Russell Thompson said. “It made sense that we would be competitive.”

A search for vendors ensued, with Clearwire Corporation landing the contract. The city chose Clearwire because of their WiMax technology, which allows for faster speeds and a greater coverage area compared to other networks.

“We put out a bid under the Wi-Fi ideal and got a couple of responders that didn’t work out because of their financial viability,” Thompson said. “WiMax runs over a licensed spectrum, and it just so happened that Clearwire owned the spectrum covering Milledgeville.”

After a merge with Sprint Nextel last December birthing the first national mobile broadband WiMax network, Clearwire could officially start funding the Milledgeville project.

Thompson said zoning and permits are the only remaining snags.

“They’ve (Clearwire) already done the RF design and got their cites identified,” Thompson said.

The city wireless network covers around 16 square miles and runs over a different frequency than other wireless spots like the GCSU campus and Blackbird Coffee.

The service is meant to be self-sustaining, so it isn’t free. The system is based on mobility giving subscribers access to any Clearwire market.

The standard Clearwire rate for wireless service is $29.99 per month. Local collegestudents can subscribe at a reduced cost of $25.

Frank Pendergast, owner of Blackbird Coffee, said the increased access to information is a good thing. Many people use Blackbird as a hang out spot because of the Internet access.

“I realize that it (the city network) is gonna be a pay service,” Pendergast said. “We’ve been providing Internet free for our customers since we opened. It’s hard to beat free.”

One of the major applications of the wireless service falls under public safety. More efficient emergency response and mobile access will aide patrol officers.

Beyond economic investment and government application, the city plans to help close the area’s digital divide. Partnerships with the Knight Foundation and their program One Community intend for a community center to bridge the gap.

“The Knight Foundation has always supported the city. One of their initiatives happened to be broadband,” Thompson said. “One Community is funded through the Knight Foundation to do some sort of center for digital excellence. We are one of the communities that fall under that because we are a Knight city, and we have access to their technical support.”

Thompson said special accounts are allocated to go to lower income citizens. A program deciding who gets the accounts, training and a way to provide computers to those without is still in the works.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Feb 6 2009. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry