Wireless (and Wired) Minneapolis

Minneapolis is moving toward approving a privately owned citywide broadband network without having done its homework.  Despite having spent hundreds of thousands of dollars, no information is available that explains to its households and businesses why that decision was made and what types of alternative ownership structures are available.

Compare this non-transparent and information-scarce decision-making process with that used by Saint Louis Park.

In May, the City Council contracted with Virchow, Krause & Company to study the technical and financial feasibility of a new network, and examine options to ensure reasonably priced access. The consultant has been instructed to examine several potential operational models, including private, public, and non-profit partners. This same consultant did the Moorhead Public Services' feasibility study for a publicly owned wireless network, which MPS subsequently built.

In July, Saint Louis Park held a Town Hall meeting, where attendees heard the results of informal citizen surveys conducted in April, and a telephone survey conducted in June. The wireless study plan was discussed at the meeting.

In mid September a summary of the consultant's final report was posted on the city’s web site, along with a staff report. The City Council has scheduled a study session for the report on September 26.

Minneapolis, on the other hand, has not held a single public meeting on its citywide wireless proposal. It included only institutional stakeholders in its “community stakeholder meetings” (board members from Minneapolis parks, libraries, schools, etc.). None of the consultant’s reports are publicly available. The staff report on which the City Council based its decision to authorize the department of Business Information Services is a PowerPoint presentation containing no data or discussion of possible ownership models.

The differences between the decision making process in Saint Louis Park and Minneapolis are stark. One city is considering all its options; the other dismissed public ownership a priori. One city is including citizens in its process; the other is not. The differences are even more startling when one considers that Minneapolis' project will be a much larger undertaking, both because it has a larger population and because it expects to obtain many city services through the proposed network.

Renewing citizens’ confidence in Minneapolis’ decision-making process – one more reason we need a democratic information network in Minneapolis.

To read more on Why We Need a Democratic Information Network in Minneapolis, visit

www.newrules.org/info/minneapolis

Provided by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, www.newrules.org

Saint Louis Park	Minneapolis
Telephone survey of residents and businesses	Representatives of city boards and offices surveyed on communications needs
Publicly available information: Staff Report: Wireless Study [PDF] Consultant's Feasibility Study [PDF]	Publicly available information: Staff Report: Wireless Broadband Internet Services Report [PDF] Staff Report: Bridging the Digital Divide [PDF]
Town Hall Meeting on wireless study plan	No public meetings
Council will decide based on study evaluating private, public, and non-profit ownership, as well as technical, market and financial feasibility.	Council approved City staff's recommendation of private ownership. Limited documentation of decision making process – no documented discussion of ownership.
Amount paid to Virchow Krause & Company for a wireless Internet service feasibility study: $58,750	Amount of contract with rClient to advise the Business Information Services department on several information projects, including the 311, 911, and wireless technology initiatives: $425,000

For more about the Minneapolis wireless broadband proposal, see: Act Now to Build a Democratic Information Network in Minneapolis.

More:

City of Saint Louis Park - Pending Decisions

Presentation from the July 26, 2005 Town Hall Meeting on the High Speed Wireless Internet Study [PDF]

Contact: Becca Vargo Daggett, 612.379.3815 x209, becca@ilsr.org

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