The Tech Edition
April 09, 2008
Is municipal Wi-Fi dead?
New systems going online, but cities may not get on board
By BILL BARLOW
Staff Writer
In the atrium of the Ocean City Community Center at 17th Street and
Simpson Avenue, on almost any given afternoon, people gather with
laptops around a table and chairs provided, making use of one of the
free, public hot spots for wireless Internet access.
In libraries throughout the county, the wireless revolution is in full
swing. All of the libraries in the Cape May County system offer free
wireless access, as does the Avalon Library at 32nd Street.
Private businesses are in on the act as well. Numerous hotels throughout
the county offer wireless computer access to their guests, either with
an extra fee or as part of the room charges, and more are coming online
regularly. In fact, it is becoming an expected amenity, according to
people in the business.
Some coffee houses offer the access as well. Starbucks plans to roll out
Wi-Fi, or high-speed wireless access, in stores throughout the country
this spring in a project with AT&T wireless. Regular customers of AT&T
or Starbucks will get some free time on line, while others will pay
$3.99 for two hours’ access. So far, it is offered in three of the
locations in South Jersey, not in the Cape May County store, but plans
are to continue expanding.
Meanwhile, whole cities are talking about going wireless. That may have
hit a snag, however.
In Ocean City and Cape May, there were plans for free or cheap wireless
access throughout the municipality. But so far, those systems have
stayed on the drawing board.
“We face some challenges, and they’re not technological challenges,”
said David Kurkowski, a Cape May City Councilman who has been the
driving force behind work on a wireless network for that city. The
original vision included possibly extending it to include the other
communities south of the Cape May Canal.
He helped put together a committee to explore a municipal wireless
network. Originally, the committee was looking at how best to establish
one. Now, the talks are whether or not to establish one.
Ocean City also pushed back its consideration of municipal wireless. In
both cases, a new state law was cited as the major reason.
In November, Gov. Jon Corzine signed a law setting strict requirements
for municipal wireless systems. New municipal systems would have to be
approved by the state Local Finance Board, and meet other requirements.
For one, they could not use any tax money or be subsidized in any way.
Further, they would have to make money, right off the bat, or at least
break even.
“I don’t know how many ventures are profitable from day one,” Kurkowski
said.
The Wi-Fi committee in Cape May will continue to meet, Kurkowski said,
and will explore the possibility of an outside contractor coming in to
set up a system. At a December presentation to City Council, a
representative of the company Big Wireless suggested setting up a system
for Cape Island would cost $75,000.
But neither Cape May nor Ocean City is giving up.
In Ocean City, after the wireless law was signed, City Administrator Jim
Rutala said the city would continue to work on municipal wireless, but
the new requirements would likely delay implementation until 2009. In a
statement issued last November, he said citywide wireless would improve
communications and public safety.
Advocates of a municipal system say it can be used for police cars, and
for security cameras throughout town. Kurkowski said he has traveled to
cities with municipal systems, including one in Texas where the mayor
showed off the system, and he rode in a police car that remained
connected while on the beat.
But Greg Foote, the computer guru at the Ocean City Library, said very
few municipalities throughout the nation have successfully established a
public system. He said there are plenty of pros to the concept, but that
the cons should be considered as well, and that citywide system could
seem like reckless spending.
“The government could be left to hold a worthless network in the end,”
he said. “It’s very new. In five years, it could be half the price and
twice as good.”
Even as a supporter of municipal Wi-Fi, Kurkowski made a similar point,
saying there are new systems already on the horizon that could make
today’s wireless technology obsolete.
“That’s not surprising given how rapidly technology is changing in the
world today,” he said.
This week, Rutala said between the new state law and the rapid pace of
the technology, Ocean City has stepped back from pursuing citywide
wireless.
“The project’s on hold,” Rutala said. “We’re really reviewing the
technology changes, and watching to see who may be the first to pursue
this given the legislative changes.”
In the libraries, the system has been welcome, according to Foote and
others.
In part, it hasn’t cost the libraries much.
The South Jersey Regional Library Cooperative has helped fund the
library access in 60 libraries, including Ocean City’s and those in the
county. Foote said the operation costs are almost negligible, in part
because libraries and schools receive free Internet access from cable
companies. While someone needs a library card to use the library
computers upstairs, Wi-Fi access is free for anyone with a laptop with
the right technology to access it. Customers can also print using the
system, for 15 cents a page.
He said the access falls in line with the mission of a library, while it
may not be quite as good a match with the mission of a city or town.
“We’ve had almost no complaints. They think it’s fabulous,” Foote said.
In the three years the county library system has offered the service,
the response has been equally welcoming, said Deborah Poillon, the
director.
The library has branches in Cape May Court House, Cape May City, Lower
Township, Sea Isle City, Stone Harbor, Upper Township, Wildwood Crest
and Woodbine.
Since the county library has been keeping track, they have had about
1,300 users a month, although Poillon felt confident that will double
over the summer.
“I would say just from Cape May City alone,” she said.
Users have are asked to come into the library and sign the library’s
policy and get a password before using the system, Poillon said, because
the library uses a filtered system. She said the library gets money from
the federal government, which includes a requirement that the system
filter obscene material.
However, she said plans are to remove the password requirement in the
near future so that users could even log on outside the buildings.
Bill Barlow can be e-mailed at
bbarlow@catamaranmedia.com
or you can comment on this story by calling 624-8900, ext. 250.