Lowell Deeds

This morning’s Globe has an interesting article on a unique plan Boston has to provide Wireless Internet Access (WiFi) throughout the city. Other major cities such as San Francisco and Philadelphia have relied on Internet providers (Google, Earthlink etc) to fund the construction of their WiFi system. Boston’s plan is different…it calls for the creation of a non-profit corporation that will develop the system by collecting “donations” from businesses and foundations.
Mayor Menino’s “Wireless Task Force” developed the plan over a six-month period. Using a non-profit corporation will allow the city to direct and control the future development of its WiFi network. Philadelphia and San Francisco are both allowing the system developer to act as an Internet Service Provider (ISP) for the consumer, but in Boston the non-profit corporation will not be an ISP. It will simply develop and maintain the fiber optic Internet infrastructure. Boston expects a number of Internet providers to compete with each other driving down the price of the service. The construction of the network will begin in about nine months. Similar to the Philadelphia and San Francisco model, Boston’s WiFi system will be constructed using radio transmitters attached to city owned structures. Initially there will be two major hotspots…Qunicy Market and City Hall Plaza. Mayor Menino hopes to have these hotspots up and running by the end of the summer. Estimates for the total construction of the project are between $16 & $20 million.