Corpus Christi

Population: 287,290

Area: 147 square miles

Municipal Utilities: water, gas

Network Type: Citywide wireless mesh with fiber and wireless backhaul

Model: Municipally owned, privately operated, open access for retail service providers

Corpus Christi did not set out to create a citywide wireless network. The project arose as a logical extension of the upgrade to wireless automated meter reading for the city’s gas and water utilities.

In 2002, the City was facing a large investment in updating its meter reading capabilities, and was actively considering privatizing its municipal utilities. It was still utilizing meter readers who walked door to door, a risky job with high turnover. If they couldn’t get into a yard for any reason, they would skip the house, which was the source of inaccuracies. Also, the once-monthly monitoring meant system leaks were not quickly recognized and repaired.

The City compared the cost-per-read of its current walking system, a drive-by system, and a fully wireless automated meter reading (AMR) system. Despite the relatively high upfront cost of the wireless system ($17.8 million for 146,000 meters), it found the cost savings of $32 million over the 20-year life of the wireless system, an average $1.6 million annually.

During the AMR pilot phase, it became apparent that Wi-Fi was a logical add-on. The AMR system uses only a small amount of the system’s capacity, and only twice daily. Adding a Wi-Fi network for municipal and public use would cost about $6 million.

The AMR pilot was expanded to include a Wi-Fi pilot area. Current installation is 300 access points covering about 19 square miles, including about 6 miles out into the bay area. The pilot project cost around $1 million. In February 2006, the city began the process of installing 1600 new access points (upgrading the old ones from 802.11b to 802.11g), each about one-eighth mile apart. Right now workers are adding about one square mile daily, and the entire 147 square miles of the city will be covered by Fall 2006.

The City is using 70 miles of fiber optics connecting its traffic signals as local backhaul, and Alvarion pre-WiMAX in areas not served by the municipal fiber network.

The total cost of the Wi-Fi network will be around $7.1 million. Annual operating costs include $100,000 in light pole attachment fees (around $62 per pole, per year). The city expects to get a full return on investment in four years.

The network is separated into multiple virtual local area networks (VLANs) – one for public safety, one for municipal services, and one for residents and visitors. The network supports the use of corporate virtual private network (VPN) clients, allowing city employees secure access to the municipal information system.

The city already uses its Wi-Fi network to dispatch police cars, replacing the 800 MHz wireless network. It is working with local hospitals to connect first responders via video to emergency room doctors.

The network is entirely funded by the city. The city formed a non-profit corporation, called Corpus Christi Digital Community, which will sell wholesale capacity to private service providers to provide a range of for-fee services to residents and businesses. The city itself will pay the non-profit $2.5 million annually for network services – including phone, Internet access, and maintenance of the wireless and A five-member board will assist the City Council in governing the non-profit.

Right now, public access to the network is free. Plans are underway to partner with private Internet service providers to provide a range of for-fee services to residents and businesses.

The network has become a tool for economic development in surprising ways. For example, the city has created a directory of local businesses that is currently available through the free service and will eventually be part of the free walled garden. A lot of local businesses didn’t know that other local businesses existed, so they ordered things from elsewhere without knowing they could buy it locally. The amount of business done between local businesses has increased.

The investment is already paying off in more accurate system monitoring, allowing the identification and repair of leaks before they become a problem. Account service calls dropped 30 percent from during September - November 2005 compared to the same period in 2003. Use of the network by building inspectors has cut 6 weeks out of the time to build a house.

"We look at it the same as we do water, sewers, gas and the road system," says Leonard Scott, business unit manager of the City’s management information systems department. "It's there for the general public's use. We think it's very important that the city have ownership and control of the system."

For more information:

Corpus Christi WiFi - The City's web site for the project

Removing Barriers to Wireless Broadband - A New America Foundation event, with remarks by Leonard Scott from the City of Corpus Christi

e-Mail this page to a Friend!

The New Rules Project - http://www.newrules.org/



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