Wireless Washtenaw delayed, but not gone
No one is surprised by news of yet another municipal wireless project delayed. In this case it’s Wireless Washtenaw county in Michigan, whose provider, 20/20 Communications, needs $10 million to finish the network. They have already spent between $2 million and $3 million. They say they are not pulling out of the project (like MetroFi and EarthLink has done in other places). Indeed, 20/20 Communications has paying customers and a waiting list of 3000 people. According to this article, Livingston County has plans for a countywide network, also using MichTel Communications. I wonder if that will ever go through given that the network will cost $50 million to deploy. Last week, Oakland County (also in Michigan) decided to put their network expansion plans on hold because MichTel Communications, their partner, could not find investors willing to put up more funds for the network.
Related news:
Racine County Wi-Fi: providing access where it’s really needed
Craven County, North Carolina goes wireless: rural Wi-Fi connects schools, towns
Cambria County, Pennsylvania launches countywide wireless network
Update on Michigan muni Wi-Fi projects: wireless Oakland county and others delayed
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Unfortunately, with the economy in a tailspin, city tax revenue drying up and budgets being slashed, it looks like it is going to be a tough road in this fledgling industry. Another southern city released and RFP, had money allocated, put the vendors through the painstaking process of putting in quality responses, and then pulled the plug before the RFP process was even complete.
Looks like the industry may end up in suspended animation for a while.
I am having a hard time understanding how a municipal wireless project can have a waiting list. The whole point of ubiquitious coverage is to make access by the public or customers seamless with respect to an installation process by the provider. With our network if a customer has trouble with a weak signal they simply stop by our office and pickup a preconfigured Ruckus CPE device. In order for Muni WIFI to be successful the experience has to be as close to Cellular as possible, where the customer turns it on and it works without involvement from the provider…..