MuniWireless

The municipal wireless broadband network in Longmont, Colorado has finally gone live. DHB Networks, a service provider, took over the network from Kite which the city had contracted in 2006 to build the network. Kite went out of business after spending almost $2 million. DHB says that it has 1000 subscribers in Longmont and that its goal is to increase that number to 2500 by the end of 2009.

Colorado law prevents munis from upgrading infrastructure

Although the city owns the fiber…

The Colorado Wireless Communities (CWC), a group of 10 cities in Colorado (Boulder, Arvada, Broomfield, Lakewood, Northglenn, Thornton, Golden, Louisville, Superior and Wheat Ridge), are wondering whether they should continue trying to work with C-Com, a Boulder-based service provider, whom they picked to deploy the wireless broadband network across the ten cities. Pursuant to the arrangement with C-Com, CWC will work with them exclusively but only if C-Com manages to find funding for the network (the cost is between $15…

DHB Networks is planning to re-launch the citywide Wi-Fi network that was originally deployed by Kite Networks in Longmont, Colorado on May 1. DHB is adding more wireless access points to provide better and more coverage in the city.

I spoke to Chris Harris, president of DHB Networks, this week and he told me that DHB will be announcing the deployment of more muni wireless networks in the next few weeks. Unlike other wireless ISPs, DHB decided not to bid on…

In a deployment that cost less than $1,000, Breckenridge, Colo., has launched 10 free Wi-Fi hot spots. The hot spot model has been gaining traction as the number of providers willing to provide free networks has dried up.

It’s not a new model. Cincinnati has had hot spots in place with its Project Lilypad. Cleveland , Miami, aned Ames, Iowa, have been looking at taking similar steps.

The Breckenridge Town Council approved the pilot program in December at the recommendation of the…

Front Range Internet, the Colorado service provider handling the wireless network deployment in Fort Collins, Colorado, is making some changes to its business model for Fort Collins’ public access application. Barry Eastman, FRII’s director of special projects, notes that the Fort Collins network is transitioning from the initial “partial-free” model (30 minutes of free access daily, then paid subscriptions for longer connections or monthly plans) to a fully free model supplemented by advertising and sponsorships. Advertising-free access also is going…

The Wi-Fi future of ten Colorado suburbs, including Boulder, rests in the hands of willing investors, according to C-Com Affinity Telecom, the company that won the contract to deploy the service.

The company beat six other providers in competition to build a test network that could be the precursor for a regional network that would bring low-cost broadband access to the 10 cities.

This could prove challenging. Private investors have been cautious about muni Wi-Fi projects since EarthLink’s retreat from the market…