Wireless (and Wired) Minneapolis

Copyright 2005 Star Tribune
Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)

April 12, 2005

Wireless Internet service for all;
Minneapolis envisions citywide Wi-Fi network

BYLINE: Steve Alexander; Staff Writer

Minneapolis is about to become an unwired city, creating a universal wireless Internet access network available to every citizen, visitor, business and municipal facility within city limits.

On Wednesday, the city will unveil a request for a proposal for a privately owned, $15 million to $20 million citywide wireless and fiber-optic network. It is likely to use the Wi-Fi (wireless fidelity) technology that has created several hundred Internet access "hot spots" for laptop computer users in metro coffee shops, bookstores, airports and hotels.

A contract for the wireless and fiber network should be signed later this year, with initial service likely to begin 12 months later and citywide service six to 12 months after that, Minneapolis officials said.

The citywide wireless network is necessary to improve government communications by linking every city building, police car and housing inspector to the city's databases, city officials say.

But the network also would be available to every individual and business in the city.

Consumers would be able to buy broadband access of 1 million to 3 million bits per second for $18 to $24 a month - a bit slower than wired cable modem service but about half the price. The network also is expected to create an economic incentive for businesses to locate in Minneapolis.

"If someone gets off a plane at the airport and signs up for Minneapolis Internet service, they can sign on with one password anywhere in the city," said Bill Beck, director for business development in the city of Minneapolis' computer operations. "Cities that have that will be in a much better position to attract new business opportunities and economic development. It will be the ante to get into the game in the next several years."

No tax money would be used for the Minneapolis wireless network, which would be paid for, built, owned and operated by the winning bidder on the city's proposal. That is a markedly different approach than in Philadelphia, where the city will own and operate a new Wi-Fi network.

Minneapolis officials decided not to build their own wireless network because of high construction and administrative costs, Beck said. In addition, city officials were concerned that cities offering high-speed Internet service have been accused by large telephone companies of competing with the private sector, he said.

Minneapolis officials envision putting Wi-Fi antennas atop Minneapolis city buildings, light poles and traffic signals and also using a high-capacity fiber-optic network to combine all the wireless signals for connection to the Internet. Fiber-optic connections also would be provided to business customers who need more capacity than wireless connections can provide.

As part of the network's start-up, the city hopes to incorporate into it all Internet hot spots already operated by private businesses such as coffee shops. Jim Farstad, a telecom consultant to the city, estimated there are 300 to 400 Internet hot spots operating in Minneapolis.

Wi-Fi hot spots often are about 300 feet in diameter, but they can be linked to create a citywide network, as they have been in the city of Chaska, which charges consumers $16 a month to use the service, called Chaska.net. In the city of 22,000 people, about 25 percent of the 7,500 households subscribe to Chaska.net, said Dave Pokorney, Chaska city manager.

Suburban pressure

Minneapolis wireless network project leaders said the inexpensive networks operating in suburban Chaska and Buffalo put pressure on Minneapolis leaders to do the same. In addition to the political pressures, the city also needed an improved network that could speed up data traffic in its 47 main buildings and extend high-speed access to 300 other buildings - all at a savings, Beck said.

The city also wanted to replace expensive cellular radio communications used by police cars with a cheaper and faster wireless data network. There also was a desire to provide broadband to an estimated 10 to 15 percent of the city's population that either isn't served by high-speed Internet access or can't afford it.

"Our goal is a common, ubiquitous network infrastructure that is seamless and provides a common communications backbone for all the needs of the city," Beck said.

City officials think that no single company can build the whole network and that bids are likely to come from consortiums consisting of a prime contractor and several subcontractors. The city has had talks with 26 potential bidders, including Qwest, Minnesota's largest phone company; equipment suppliers Siemens and Alcatel, "and some new players," Beck said.

Cable TV company Time Warner expressed interest in the project, but Qwest was noncommital.

"We need to look at the city's request for proposal, but we're interested in seeing how our resources meet their needs," Time Warner spokesman Lance Leupold said.

"We cannot offer any comment until we have read and reviewed the request for proposal," Qwest spokeswoman Cyndi Barrington said.

Other bidders

Other local firms considering bidding are those that already offer more expensive wireless Internet services to Twin Cities businesses. StoneBridge Wireless Broadband of Eden Prairie and Implex.net Inc. of Minneapolis offer WiMax, a next-generation wireless Internet access technology that travels several miles instead of Wi-Fi's 300 feet but requires costly receiving equipment that consumers usually can't afford.

Tim Johnson, StoneBridge director of strategic alliances, said his firm might bid on some aspects of the proposed network, probably as a subcontractor, but isn't sure the project is practical.

"There is a place for Wi-Fi hot spots. But the cost-effectiveness of a border-to-border Minneapolis city Wi-Fi network is in question," Johnson said.

Stuart DeVaan, CEO of Implex.net, said his firm is testing a Wi-Fi network that would serve businesses and consumers along Nicollet Mall for $39 a month. His firm will bid on the Minneapolis network using a "meshing technology" that allows Wi-Fi hot spots to exchange data with each other, effectively expanding their range.

"Using antennas on light posts and power poles, we can in theory cover every square inch of Minneapolis with Wi-Fi," DeVaan said.