City set to go wireless by 2006 for $10M tag

Despite some opposition from telecommunications firms -- including Sprint, Verizon and Comcast -- Philadelphia is going forward with its $10 million plan to provide wireless Internet access across its 135 square miles.

Mayor John Street is tentatively scheduled to make the announcement and release a request of the proposal to construct the wireless network this week.

The plan calls for Wi-Fi -- wireless fidelity network -- to be available either free or for a small fee for all residents of Philadelphia with a computer and wireless capability.

"We have about three miles covered now and six more ... scheduled to go live within three weeks," Philadelphia Chief Information Officer Dianah Neff said.

Many of the Wi-Fi units will be installed on traffic lights and other traffic-control devices, and most will draw the small amount of required energy from the pre-existing traffic light. Between eight to 16 units will be needed per square mile of wireless coverage at a cost of about $60,000 per square mile.

However, the wireless signal provided by the project will not be able to penetrate walls, Neff said. Homes and businesses will need indoor or outdoor antennae to bring the signal indoors.

The $10 million project is being funded by commercial loans, taxable-bond financing and foundation grants.

The Wireless Philadelphia Executive Committee expects implementation to begin late this summer and to be complete by the end of summer 2006.

"I think $10 million is a cheap price to pay for this kind of service," College senior Skee Yagi said. "I think to the city government $10 million is like peanuts, and I think it's being put to good use."

City and Regional Planning professor Eugenie Birch said that it is important for the city to work with local schools to ensure that students can take advantage of the technology.

Yagi, who is graduating this spring, said that he would have loved to have had free wireless throughout the city.

"I love taking my laptop outside, working in a cafe," Yagi said. He praised the city government for its efforts to provide Internet access to citizens who may not be able to afford such service on their own.

These initiatives could serve to attract young professionals to the city.

Philadelphia wants to "show the nation and the world that it is a progressive city and that it is interested in investing in the technologies necessary for the 21st century," Birch said. "If they make the entire city wireless, I think that sends a message that the whole population will be able to take advantage of the technology."

The wireless industry sees the initiative as potentially damaging to competition and has urged the Pennsylvania General Assembly to halt the plan. Fifteen states have passed measures restricting government-run wireless projects.

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