While the Texas legislature is debating on whether to ban municipal broadband networks, Addison (Texas) has decided to deploy a citywide wireless broadband network. The network will be up and running by mid-summer 2005, although who knows whether the state legislature will even allow it.While the Texas legislature is debating on whether to ban municipal broadband networks, Addison (Texas) has decided to deploy a citywide wireless broadband network. The network will be up and running by mid-summer 2005, although who knows whether the state legislature will even allow it.
The city has contracted with RedMoon to deliver service. The franchise relationship between Addison and RedMoon is based on revenue-sharing, with RedMoon having right-of-way access to build a city-wide mesh network. Once the network is fully operational, users can get access for $5.95 per hour, according to the press release. They have not yet set prices for monthly and weekly access. I think $5.95 per hour is high, considering Lompoc is charging $5 per day for citywide access.
Addison is a small city with a daytime population of nearly 100,000 in its office towers, 170 restaurants, 22 hotels and busy general aviation airport with a residential population of just over 15,000. It is home to Mary Kay Cosmetics, Pizza Hut, Palm Harbor Homes, among others. A very interesting market for citywide wireless, in other words.
The city will be using Tropos mesh nodes and Airpath’s roaming gateway. I understand that Redmoon wants to allow subscribers to roam onto other networks, which explains why they are using Airpath.
I will post more details about the Addison network later. Keep an eye out for updates.
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