MuniWireless

Reading, Pennsylvania (pop. 400,000) is installing a municipal wireless video surveillance network. In phase one they are setting up 22 cameras around the city and providing 4.9 GHz mobile access to police officers. The backhaul is the fiber optic network owned by MAW Communications. The city has partnered with Wi4Net, a division of CelPlan Technologies.

“We are implementing this video surveillance system as part of a larger effort to reduce crime in our City, and we are extremely excited with the…

Wireless Philadelphia has received a $50,000 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The organization has been unusually successful in attracting the support of local and regional organizations.  However, this is the first major national grant to come its way. According to a WP press release, the funds will be used to develop “a series of ‘microsites’ providing important health and social service resources to six vulnerable populations.” The College of Physicians of Philadelphia which sponsors PhillyHealthInfo.org will oversee the development effort.

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Philadelphia’s muni wireless network is in a holding pattern as it waits to see what EarthLink’s proposed sale of the network will mean to its future. Last week, in a interview with local radio station KYW, city Chief Information Officer Terry Phillis discussed the implications of the sale, calling it “by far the best alternative ” for the future of the network.

He acknowledged that finding an appropriate buyer will be challenging. Phillis said the buyer “would have to have a financial model that would…

The partnership that sponsors Pittsburgh’s downtown Wi-Fi network has a new three-year contract with a new operating partner who isn’t charging it a dime for service.  The good news for Pittsburgh residents came last week when aspStation formally announced the contract it signed with the partnership in January.

aspStation has already run the network for the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership for the past four months without charging the partnership.  Company President Ed DeHart described his company’s decision to operate the network at no cost as “a…

The Wireless Future Program of The New America Foundation has posted video from the webcast, The Two States of Pennsylvania, they hosted this week on the challenges of planning and deploying municipal wireless networks. The webcast, which is archived on The New America Foundation’s web site, offers good insights into issues that range from spectrum policy reform to  legislative barriers to community wireless networks.

The group also distributed its recent research paper, The Philadelphia Story: Learning from a Municipal Wireless Pioneer, and a working paper on Wireless…

MuniWireless readers will be interested in joining a web-cast and live chat of the New America Foundation’s Wireless Future Program on Wednesday, February 6. The session will look at the future of muni wirless through the experience in Pennsylvania and two new reports from the Foundation will be presented. To participate in the event, send your name, affiliation, and contact information to communications@newamerica.net. A panel of experts from the government, industry and academia will be giving presentations at the event…