California

Location(s)

The San Mateo Police Department (SMPD) uses a wireless broadband network to aid them in their duties. Before the wireless network, the SMPD, like most law enforcement agencies of its size, had used a mobile data radio system. While this was useful for computer-aided dispatch (CAD) and text-only incident information, this kind of system is slow (9.6 Kbps), much slower than dial-up. Access to a high speed network throughout the city saves police officers time, and trips back to headquarters, as they can now perform vital tasks such as report filing, database access, photo-lineup generation, and other investigative activities from Wi-Fi enabled PDAs and laptop computers while on the road. The SMPD has 35 patrol cars and more than 110 police officers.

Learn More:

Metro-Scale Wi-Fi for Public Safety. San Mateo Police Department. Tropos Networks Case Study. July 2007. www.tropos.com

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)

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)

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)

This is an ambitious regional network project, organized by a consortium of municipalities across Silicon Valley in California. The group aims to create a seamless, interoperable network that covers the region, meaning that users would have the ability to use one account and to roam throughout the region without losing the signal. The network will support a wide range of services (including public safety and municipal applications) and service level options (from free service to specialized video and VOIP services). The group issued an RFP, and selected a consortium of companies to build the network, including Cisco and IBM, Azulstar, and Seakay. The contract has not been released publicly. Currently the network is in the build-out phase, but it is months behind schedule. Some of the cities that will be covered by the Wireless Silicon Valley project have initiated their own wireless projects, for example, Foster City, CA.

Learn More:

Wireless Silicon Valley
http://www.jointventure.org/programs-initiatives/wirelesssiliconvalley/w...

Wireless Business Model. Wireless Silicon Valley Task Force Initiative. Intel Solution Services. April 5, 2006. www.jointventure.org/programs-initiatives/wirelesssiliconvalley/document...

Wireless Silicon Valley RFP Responses Published. Glenn Fleishman. Wi-Fi Net News. July 12, 2006. http://www.wifinetnews.com/archives/006750.html

Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network and SAMCAT announce vendor for Wireless Silicon Valley. Press Release. September 5, 2006.
http://www.jointventure.org/inthenews/pressreleases/090506wirelessvendor...

Wireless Silicon Valley Hits Roadblocks. Glenn Fleishman. Wi-Fi Net News. May 30, 2007. http://www.wifinetnews.com/archives/007669.html

McKibben Consulting (2003). Lompoc Broadband Services Feasibility
Study. Chatsworth, CA. www.arrl.org/~ehare/bpl/final_report.pdf
This is a detailed study of the feasibility of a municipal broadband
network in Lompoc, CA (pop. 40,000). The city has since built a
wireless network (http://www.lompocnet.com/). The report 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

Lompoc, CA Wireless Network http://www.lompocnet.com/ Lompoc, CA (pop. 40,000) operates a municipal wireless network, which cost $3 million to build, on a public utility model. The service began to be offered in September 2006, but the network has not yet been fully deployed. The city provides two rate-plans. -Hotspot plan: $9.99 per month for unlimited, self-supported Internet access for one user at a time. -Family plan: $15.99 per month for unlimited Internet access for up to three users at a time, technical support via telephone or email, and rental of one city-owned wireless bridge.

ACLU-Northern California, Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC),
and Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) (2006). Coalition Letter on
San Francisco Municipal Broadband.

http://www.epic.org/privacy/internet/sfws22106.html

City of Palo Alto, CA (2007). Evaluation Criteria for Ultra-High Speed Broadband. http://www.city.palo-alto.ca.us/cityagenda/publish/cmrs/documents/CMR-15...

San Francisco Budget Analyst (2007). Fiscal Feasibility Analysis of a Municipally-Owned Citywide Wireless Broadband Network. Prepared for the Board of Supervisors of the City and County of San Francisco. http://www.sfgov.org/site/uploadedfiles/budanalyst/Reports/WiFi/Municipa...