Examples by population

Location(s)

Nevada, MO (pronounced Ne-vay-duh) wanted broadband access for its residents, but providers wouldn’t build it. So, in 2003, the city, with the help of WISP NeighborLink Wireless, built its own citywide wireless network. The network cost $20,000 to build, and is used by residents, police, and other local officials. About a year later, SBC (now AT&T) began offering traditional broadband service. This significantly cut into sales, but the network remains popular enough to be economically viable. Nevada is currently retooling the network to make it easier for small businesses in town to resell the service.

The city sees the wireless network as a way to enhance local economic development, and the project follows on the city’s 1997 telecenter project, which had similar goals. The Nevada TeleCenter houses two interactive video classrooms for 25 students each; a satellite downlinked classroom for 50 participants; a multimedia production room equipped to produce educational and training materials; and five computer work stations for free public access to the Internet.

Learn More:

Rural Town Creates Unique Solution for Technology Problem. City of Nevada, 2006. http://www.nevadamo.org/pages/press/neighborlink.htm

NeighborLink Wireless (recently acquired by Inetvisions)
http://www.inetvisions.net/

Nevada, Missouri - Nevada Telecommunity. Smart Communities Profiles. Industry Canada, December 1999.
http://198.103.246.211/profiles/nevada_e.asp

Location(s)

Île Sans Fil (“island without wires”) is a non-profit, volunteer-run organization committed “to the development of a free communication infrastructure to strengthen local communities in the greater Montreal region.” The group has a number of projects, including acting as an enabler and coordinator of free-to-the-user wireless hotspots throughout Montreal, building a city rooftop-to-rooftop wireless mesh network, and developing technology for community networking (see article below on Wifidog). ISF also aims to create online space for local content and new media art.

Learn More:

Île Sans Fil
http://www.ilesansfil.org/tiki-index.php

Articles on Île Sans Fil
http://www.ilesansfil.org/tiki-index.php?page=Press

McCallum, D. (2007). An Interview with Michael Lenczner. Vague Terrain.
http://www.vagueterrain.net/content/archives/journal06/lenczner01.html

Lenczner, M. (2005). Wireless Portals with Wifidog. Linux Journal, 140. http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/8352

Rocha, R. (2007). Pioneering Wi-Fi Cities Face Budget Hiccups. The Gazette. September 6, 2007. http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/business/story.html?id=45da17....

Powell, A., & Regan Shade, L. (2006). Going Wi-Fi in Canada: Municipal, and Community Initiatives. Government Information Quarterly, 23(3-4), 381-403. (For Île Sans Fil profile, see p. 390.)
www3.fis.utoronto.ca/research/iprp/cracin/publications/pdfs/final/powell_shade_wifi_giq.pdf

Location(s)

Chaska, MN owns chaska.net, a wireless internet service provider that is partnered with private companies. Because Chaska, MN was one of the earliest municipal wireless networks, it has received a lot of attention in the news – both positive and negative. To build the network, workers from the city's utility department installed the outdoor wireless cells in city-owned fixtures. Chaska.net financed the entire $535,000 capital investment needed for the wireless network. Both residential and business services are provided. The network is now operated by Siemens Communications.

Learn More:

Chaska.net
http://www.chaska.net/

Chaska Wi-Fi Experience Offers Valuable Lessons. Mike Hughlett. Government Technology. Apr 29, 2007. http://www.govtech.com/gt/articles/100100

Utility or Futility? How Chaska, Minnesota (pop: 18,000) is showing big cities the way forward. Shaw, Russell. Corante, 2005. [Includes interview with Brad Mayer.] http://www.corante.com/vision/wireless/chaska.php

Tropos Case Study (2004)
http://www.tropos.com/pdf/chaska_casestudy.pdf

Location(s)

In April 2006, Foster City entered into a franchise agreement with MetroFi to use approximately 100 city-owned street light poles to provide wireless network services. Foster City receives compensation for MetroFi's use of its infrastructure, such as light poles and electrical usage ($36 per year for each of MetroFi’s 120 access point transmitters). MetroFi is required to meet a coverage objective of 95% for outdoor areas in the city (so far it has had some trouble with this, see below). Residents can buy additional devices to help boost the signal into homes and businesses.

Learn More:

Foster City is Now Wi-Fi Enabled! Foster City Website.
http://www.fostercity.org/community_info/telecomm/Wi-Fi-Services-Come-to...

MetroFi Selected to Deliver Free Wireless Internet Access to Foster City. MetroFi Press Release. April 19, 2006.
http://www.metrofi.com/press_releases-4.html

MetroFi General FAQs.
http://www.metrofi.com/general_faq.html#item2

Metro-Fi Trying to Fix Foster City 'Dead Zones'. Jason Goldman-Hall. The Examiner. April 11, 2007.
http://www.examiner.com/a-667542~Metro-Fi%20trying%20to%20fix%20Foster%20City%20'dead%20zones'.html

Location(s)

St. Cloud built, operates, and maintains its municipal wireless broadband system called Cyber Spot. Free service is available for homes and businesses in St. Cloud. The network's construction costs, including first year operating costs, were $3.1 million, and were paid from the City's economic development fund. Estimated annual costs for ongoing operations, for which the city contracts with Hewlett-Packard, are $500,000 per year.

Learn More:

Cyber Spot – Frequently Asked Questions
www.freepress.net/docs/stcloudfaq.pdf

St. Cloud, Florida citywide Wi-Fi update: launch plus 10 days. Muniwireless.com. Esme Vos. March 21, 2006.
http://www.muniwireless.com/article/articleview/5090/

St. Cloud ranked no. 1 metro Wi-Fi deployment. Esme Vos. January 26, 2007. http://www.muniwireless.com/article/articleview/5581/1/23/

Tax rollbacks could endanger city Wi-Fi. Muniwireless.com. Carol Ellison. April 4, 2007. http://www.muniwireless.com/article/view/5862/

Location(s)

The Lompoc, CA wireless network was built and is owned by the city. It provides both residential and business service. The city conducted a detailed study of the feasibility of a municipal broadband network before going forward with the project. The report (see below) is a valuable resource. It covers basic questions about broadband feasibility, such as: How risky is this for the city? Does wireless best help the goals of the city? Should the city deploy both fiber and wireless? Is there enough public demand to support such a network? The report also analyzes different technologies (fiber, wi-fi, etc.); proposes a conceptual design for the system; lays out a base business model for a network, including detailed financial projections (see end of report for the numbers); and describes various build-out scenarios. While this report is targeted to the context of the city of Lompoc, it may be a useful model for other communities considering feasibility studies, in terms of what factors the community might consider in such a study.

Learn More:

LompocNet
http://www.lompocnet.com/

McKibben Consulting (2003). Lompoc Broadband Services Feasibility Study. Chatsworth, CA. www.arrl.org/~ehare/bpl/final_report.pdf

City of Lompoc, California, Subcribes to Broadband Wireless Managed Service Platform from Siemens. Siemens Communications Inc.. March 7, 2007. http://www.bbwexchange.com/pubs/2007/03/07/page1423-485637.asp

Lompoc launches citywide wireless broadband network. Esme Vos. Muniwireless.com. March 23, 2005.
http://www.muniwireless.com/article/articleview/4629/1/23/

Location(s)

ParkWiFi is a private-public partnership between the City of St. Louis Park (which owns the network), Unplugged Cities (which will operate and maintain the network and provide subscriber services), and ARINC (which will build the network).

Learn More:

St. Louis Park Resident’s Information Site
http://www.stlouispark.org/residents/wireless.htm

Park WiFi
http://www.parkwifi.com/

St. Louis Park, Minn. Approves Solar-Powered Wireless. Government Technology. November 10, 2006.
http://www.govtech.com/gt/articles/102210

Location(s)

Technology: Wi-Fi, pre Wi-Max, Wi-Max

Azulstar provides wireless internet and voice services in Rio Rancho, NM, with a coverage target of 95% of the city. Azulstar is an up-and-coming wireless ISP, and is participating in the ambitious Wireless Silicon Valley Project. Rio Rancho is home to Intel’s largest manufacturing facility, and other high-tech companies. Azulstar has negotiated an agreement with the city that resembles a cable television franchise. The city gives Azulstar access to public right of way. In return, Azulstar provides wireless service, and pays a fee for being allowed to operate in the city. The fee is 3 percent of the gross after the company receives $100,000 gross per month, and once monthly revenues reach $500,000, the fee goes to 7 percent.

Learn More:

Azulstar
http://azulstar.com/

Azulstar rescues city Wi-Fi network in New Mexico. Loring Wirbel. EE Times. November 4, 2004. http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=OLY2TKLYXSO1CQSNDLRS...

New Mexico City Hopes for Wi-Fi Access by Christmas. Wayne Rash. E-Week. October 29, 2004. http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1699517,00.asp

Rio Rancho: Citywide VoWi-Fi. Gerry Blackwell. Wi-Fi Planet. July 21, 2005. http://www.wi-fiplanet.com/columns/article.php/3521966

Azulstar Could Give EarthLink a Run for the Muni Market. Carol Ellison, May 25, 2007. http://www.muniwireless.com/article/articleview/6033/1/3/

Location(s)

The City of Mountain View, the location of Google’s headquarters, was approached by Google to establish this no-cost (to the city and to users) wireless network. Google must pay the city for the use of streetlight poles and for all electrical utility and connection charges, which amount to approximately $12,600/year. Google hopes to use the Mountain View network as a testing ground and to show ground to show large municipalities that it can provide citywide Wi-Fi access.

Learn More:

Google Wins Approval to Give Home City Wi-Fi. Elizabeth Montalbano, IDG News Service. November 17, 2005.
http://www.macworld.com/news/2005/11/17/googlewifi/index.php

Location(s)

Two researchers (see below) investigated whether WiFi could be a cost-effective technology to provide broadband access to users in rural and remote regions. They found that it was. To make their assessment realistic, the researchers modeled a real rural area: Gallatin County, Montana. They modeled the entire county, including the major towns, satellite communities, and widely scattered rural population. The study includes a financial analysis of a number of possible models, and while it focuses on the example of Gallatin County, the study is designed to be useful to rural communities more widely.

Learn More:

Crossing the Digital Divide: Cost-Effective Broadband Wireless Access for Rural and Remote Areas. M. Zhang and R. S. Wolff. IEEE Communications Magazine. February 2004: 99-105. www.coe.montana.edu/ee/rwolff/Divide-rev4.pdf