After considering deployment of a city-wide wireless network, the Tampa City Council determined today that it would opt, instead, for a downtown hotspot.After considering deployment of a city-wide wireless network, the Tampa City Council determined today that it would opt, instead, for a downtown hotspot.
The council took the action after hearing a report from Tampa IT director James Buckner. Buckner said Tampa lacks the budget to consider a city-wide deployment this year even if a provider agrees to build it at no cost to the city, due to the amount of staff time and legal costs involved in negotiating a public-private partnership.
That was unacceptable to John Dingfelder, the councilman who requested the study. He said Buckner’s report was not what he requested, which was the feasibility of establishing wireless service in the downtown and three other neighborhoods of the city. Dingfelder asked Buckner to come back to the council with such a report in 90 days.
According to the Tampa Tribune, Buckner “Buckner primarily looked at San Francisco, which signed a deal with Google and Earthlink earlier this year to provide wireless access to all its residents‚Äö?Ѭ?San Francisco, like a number of other large cities that have worked with Earthlink, signed a contract that puts the Internet provider in charge of footing most of the bill. Buckner said the costs to provide the service range from $3 million to $18 million, depending on the coverage size. In St. Petersburg, which recently also signed on with Earthlink, the estimated cost to the provider is $6.8 million.”
If that is what Buckner reported, he’s sorely misinformed. San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors never approved Mayor Gavin Newsom’s recommendation to engage in a public-private partnership with EarthLink. The proposal has been stalled since winter.
Click here to read the story on the council’s vote.
http://www.tboblogs.com/index.php/newswire/story/city-delays-wireless-internet-decision/
Click here for more about Buckner’s report.
http://www.tbo.com/news/metro/MGB8F4QHW2F.html
Also see, “Mayor Gavin Newsom on SF delay.”
http://www.muniwireless.com/article/articleview/6025/1/23/
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