Wireless (and Wired) Minneapolis

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Saint Paul Pioneer Press (Minnesota)

January 19, 2006

City study looking at 'Wi-Fi'

BYLINE: JASON HOPPIN, Pioneer Press

BODY:

Imagine e-mailing co-workers from the middle of Como Park, checking out Super Bowl highlights while riding a Metro Transit bus or downloading iTunes from anyplace in St. Paul.

A citywide wireless Internet network is one step closer to reality now that a broad study of how — and whether — St. Paul should offer municipal wireless services is under way.

"This is a top priority" for Mayor Chris Coleman's administration, said Cindy Mullan, the city's interim technology director.

The study is expected to be completed in April. It will not only shape St. Paul's wireless future but plunge the city headlong into a national debate about whether municipalities should get involved in a marketplace where the private sector is investing billions of dollars.

Cities pursuing wireless networks — from Lafayette, La., to Philadelphia — have clashed with telecom, cable and Internet companies who fear losing customers and argue that government-run networks would stunt innovation.

"We believe it's a private-sector function," said Joe Farren of the Wireless Association, a trade group. "There's certainly not a need for taxpayers' money to be involved."

The debate has reached the highest levels of government, with competing federal bills introduced last year that would either ban cities from offering municipal wireless in places where the private sector does, or protect their ability to do so.

Several Minnesota communities already have established their own networks. Chaska and Moorhead already offer wireless fidelity, or Wi-Fi, networks, which transmit data over radio frequencies. Several public institutions and private businesses, such as Starbucks, act as Wi-Fi "hot spots." Municipal wireless essentially makes the entire city a hot spot.

Minneapolis is going forward with plans to create a network, which would be built and run by a private company. Google has offered to wire the city of San Francisco at no charge.

St. Paul has advantages over Minneapolis that make it easier to offer a Wi-Fi network, said City Council Member Lee Helgen, a proponent. For example, St. Paul, rather than utility companies, owns city light posts, which can be used to mount wireless transmitters.

Helgen also said he supports municipal wireless for its ability to connect poorer communities to the Internet — a way to bridge the so-called "digital divide."

The study will take input from residents and the business community, examine St. Paul's communications infrastructure and look at how similar cities approached the issue, said Craig Rapp, vice president of Springsted Inc., which is conducting the study. Ultimately, several proposals will be presented to the city, which will include ideas on how big a role the private sector should play.

The cost of creating and accessing a wireless infrastructure is yet to be determined.

"Broadband access is vital to the future of our city," said Bob Hume, a spokesman for Coleman. "This study will enable us to explore the needs of our residents, businesses, institutions of higher education and the city's own needs."

Jon Kerr, a local resident who has been involved in early efforts to wire St. Paul, said it's something the city should do.

"It has the potential to connect people in ways that they haven't been," Kerr said, adding that it makes cities attractive to businesses. "I think that's why a lot of cities are wiring up. It's something they see as a draw."