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Dane County, Wis., Proceeds With Plans for Wireless Internet Project

Posted on: Tuesday, 20 September 2005, 21:00 CDT

Sep. 21--Both Dane County and the Doyle administration are forging ahead with their own wireless Internet projects and aren't waiting for Madison, where city officials are still pondering their next move four weeks after lead contractor America Online abruptly backed out.

The state has approached other cities in recent weeks about developing their own wireless zones, and the Dane County Regional Airport will soon begin constructing WiFi networks, officials from both entities said Tuesday.

"The county executive's first priority was always the airport," said Lesley Sillaman, spokeswoman for County Executive Kathleen Falk. "That was what we went into the partnership wanting to get done as quickly as possible."

Meanwhile, the city has not officially indicated its next course of action whether it will work with one of the two companies AOL beat for the original contract, or start a new competition from scratch.

However, city Information Services Director Dick Grasmick is preparing the details of a new competition, one that could have a new contractor in place by late January or February. Grasmick said the start-from-scratch option is being prepared if ongoing discussions -- which he declined to elaborate on -- don't pan out, he said.

The idea of a center-city wireless network, first floated by Mayor Dave Cieslewicz almost two years ago, was unveiled as an intergovernmental initiative last December under the name "Wireless Wisconsin."

Under the plan, the state provided support and legal guidance and the county looked to allay frequent complaints of poor cellular phone service at the airport by installing wireless capabilities there. At the time, officials set a target completion date of late spring.

Numerous companies have expressed interest in the project since AOL left, said Cieslewicz spokesman George Twigg, and city officials remain optimistic that the project -- while delayed -- is still on track for eventual success.

"This has taken longer than expected, and the technology is changing rapidly," Twigg said. "That's why it's too important to not get right once we move forward with the next decision."

Since AOL backed out, Scott McDonell, a technology expert from the state Administration Department, has traveled to other cities -- including Racine, Milwaukee, Monona and Waunakee -- to offer help with their own projects.

"There's no negative element here," McDonell said. "A lot of work has been done already. My job was to write the (request for proposals). They can kind of do it on their own now."

Despite the setback, Madison project planners aren't starting from square one. A basic legal framework is in place, market research has been done, and engineering studies on how to strategically locate wireless transmitters in Downtown are complete.

The airport project will be two-fold, Sillaman said, entailing an upgrade to cellular phone service and the installation of the wireless Internet network.

She could not give a timeline for the project, but said it would be relatively simple because the airport is entirely indoors -- therefore not affected by looming winter weather and far smaller than the city's proposed wireless zone extending 1.5 miles in all directions from the Capitol.

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Copyright (c) 2005, The Wisconsin State Journal

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TWX,

Source: The Wisconsin State Journal

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