MuniWireless

Granite City, Illinois (pop. 32,000; 44 square kilometers) will get a citywide wireless broadband network if the city signs an agreement with wireless service provider, Network 1 Communications (in a joint venture with United Technologies). The network will be used for public Internet access over the 2.4 GHz frequency and for public safety over the 4.9 GHz frequency. The city will use the network for municipal applications. Network 1 plans to offer residential and business broadband access; fees will range…

The city of St. Charles, Illinois will have a muni wireless network in place by the end of June 2008 if all goes as planned. Some areas will already have Wi-Fi by the end of May. St. Charles is not contributing any money into the project. MeshLinx, the service provider that owns the network, will pay the city for the right to place wireless nodes on the electric poles. MeshLinx is expected to “unwire” neighboring city, Geneva, as well.

Meanwhile, five…

Princeton, Illinois, is deploying broadband-over-powerline service in the final quadrant of a city-wide network and it looks like service will become available to residents by the end of this month. According to a story in the PSJStar, the service will be offered by the city electrical utility. Residents will be able to access the Internet via electrical outlets in their homes and businesses using a special modem. This is an especially interesting project. BPL generated a lot of interest sometime…

Two more free public Wi-Fi networks are on the shelf. MetroFi will not be building out free muni networks in Aurora and Naperville, Ill., after the communities decided not to also contract with the company to build public safety networks. It raises the question: What new business models are emerging?

This is just the latest development in a trend that exposed the fundamental flaw in the public-private model so many cities and their potential partners tried to embrace–the idea that ad…

Phase: Deploying

Vendors: MetroFi

Coverage Area:

Main Contact: Denise Graab

Website:

Notes: Public safety, digital inclusion

See more: Aurora, Illinois

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Muni wireless for public safety is getting more than its share of attention lately, largely due to the volume of federal and state money available for such deployments. The latest announcement of a public safety deployment comes from Clarendon Hills, Illinois which will wirelessly monitor activity at its train station. Announcements continue to roll in about new muni wireless public safety deployments. The latest comes out of the village of Clarendon Hills, Illinois, which is deploying a public safety network…