News & Press Releases

City explores Wi-Fi connection

Publication: Eureka Reporter, Eureka, California
Steve Spain, 9/12/2007

The city of Eureka is joining hundreds of other communities across the nation in considering the feasibility of a municipal wireless broadband network, or Wi-Fi.

High-profile stories from Chicago, San Francisco, Philadelphia and St. Louis concerning debacles in implementing citywide Wi-Fi networks have dampened some of the interest nationwide.

Yet others cite the success of these networks in disaster relief. Sean McLaughlin, executive director of Access Humboldt, explained how the municipal wireless network in Minneapolis allowed emergency responders and city employees to communicate.

McLaughlin said the Wi-Fi networks are meshed and more robust than other forms of wireless communication, including cell phones.

After an interstate bridge collapsed in Minneapolis on Aug. 1, he said, the cell phone networks overloaded and callers could not get through. Using the city’s Wi-Fi network, McLaughlin explained, emergency personnel and city staff were better able to respond to the disaster.

McLaughlin also cited studies by the Federal Communications Commission following Hurricane Katrina that showed wireless networks could survive natural disasters better than more established communications infrastructure.
McLaughlin said he’s excited that the city is studying the feasibility of a Wi-Fi network.

“It’s very important that cities and public agencies develop public infrastructure of this nature,” he said. “Access Humboldt supports public education and government infrastructure that supports local voices.”

Lyn Ellingwood, information services manager for Eureka, said the city formulated the request for a feasibility study as a way to study how Wi-Fi applications could be employed by the city.

The city is looking for a cost-benefit analysis in light of the failing municipal Wi-Fi networks nationwide, she said. The study should also compare the benefits and risks of a closed network solely accessed by city staff versus access to everyone within city limits.

The large-scale urban models proposed by communications company EarthLink are failing because they simply took on more than they could afford, said Jim Carlson of Carlson Wireless Technologies in Arcata.

Carlson sees Eureka as a promising market for the payback model of municipal Wi-Fi, where a slower connection is provided at no cost, but a premium service would require a monthly fee.

In the case of open access, Ellingwood is wary of the security of the city’s data, but Carlson is confident the networks can be isolated from one another with relative ease.

Tina Nerat of Neratech in Cutten reviewed the city’s draft request for proposal a few months ago.

“They really are doing the right thing looking first at the feasibility before jumping right in,” she said.

Bob Morse, co-owner of Morse Media in Eureka, said the idea of sitting at Blues by the Bay and uploading pictures to the Internet excites him.

“Whether the city has resources to do this and see a return, I don’t know,” he said.

Whatever the case, Ellingwood hopes to have a number of bids by Oct. 30, in order to evaluate the proposals and take the matter before the City Council.