 | |
| |
TechnologyDaily Mobile
The Unwiring Of America's Cities
by Chloe Albanesius
On the heels of its contract to provide wireless Internet access to the citizens of Philadelphia, EarthLink has won preliminary approval to expand the high-speed Internet network in the city of Anaheim, Calif.
The five-member city council last week unanimously approved a plan that would grant EarthLink a 20-year franchise agreement to establish a broadband network for the city's 50 square miles. Anaheim would give EarthLink exclusive rights to install and maintain its equipment, some of which would come from Tropos Networks, on streetlights and traffic-signal poles. The company also would use the city's existing fiber network to connect some radio antennas to the Internet.
EarthLink would pay Anaheim a pole-attachment fee, the cost of electricity and a lease for its fiber network, the city said. Anaheim also would have discounted access to EarthLink's network.
The city already started to build a Wi-Fi-based system for safety and field operations personnel in Anaheim via a federal homeland security grant. Those systems, however, were only viewable via office computers. EarthLink would first build a two-square-mile test center and then expand citywide by the end of 2006.
Mayor Curt Pringle said the initiative would result in "other high-tech businesses [using] Anaheim as a test bed for their emerging technology." The city council will hold a public hearing on the matter Nov. 15 before a final vote.
In other wireless news, Oakland County, Mich., on Monday selected seven communities that will launch wireless pilot projects to serve as the starting point for county-wide wireless deployment.
The Wireless Oakland Project Team received applications from 30 local governments interested in the pilots, but members eventually narrowed it to Birmingham, Madison Heights, Oak Park, Pontiac, Royal Oak, Troy and Wixom.
The pilots will begin by year's end and will conclude during the first quarter of 2006. County-wide wireless Internet access is expected by mid- to late 2007, the city said. Pontiac-based MichTel Communications will own, operate and maintain the project. Access will be free at lower bandwidths, but MichTel will charge for higher-end service.
Michigan has a long history of wireless projects, having first explored the option in Grand Haven with the help of Azulstar Networks. That company last week announced that the cities of Ferrysburg and Spring Lake have now joined Grand Haven to create a tri-city Wi-Fi network.
Azulstar last week also completed a 40-square-mile wireless network in the city of Rio Rancho, N.M. The system uses more than 400 radios to provide laptop-ready wireless access.
On the West Coast, Qwest Communications Oregon President Judy Peppler on Tuesday questioned why the cities of Monmouth and Independence are borrowing $8 million from the Oregon Economic and Community Development Commission for a fiber-optic network.
"Government networks take money away from schools, fire and police departments and other essential services that the private sector does not provide," she wrote in an editorial for the Statesman Journal.
Peppler noted the embattled municipal broadband effort of Ashland, Ore., as an example of why cities should avoid services that major providers, like Qwest, already provide. "I can only conclude that the decision to move forward with a city network was based on outdated information about which services are available from private providers," she wrote.
Louisiana, Sequoia Negotiating Over E-Voting
Louisiana will begin negotiations with Sequoia Voting Systems for a statewide e-voting system, Secretary of State Al Ater announced Monday.
An evaluation committee recommended Sequoia after a three-month evaluation of proposals. "It is my intention to negotiate and execute a uniform, statewide voting system in Louisiana," Ater said. "Once implemented, all parishes will vote in exactly the same manner."
The state held a public e-voting showcase earlier this year before requesting proposals in July. Five companies submitted proposals Aug. 9, and they were evaluated by the nine-member committee. Members of that committee were made public for the first time this week, and they include six officials from the Louisiana Department of State, one from the state's Justice Department, and election representatives from West Baton Rouge and St. Tammany Parish.
Bids were evaluated on experience, staffing, training, equipment accessibility, security, maintainability, dependability and customer service, Ater said. The initiative will be funded via federal grants.
Tennessee Gets New Security Director
David Mitchell was sworn in as Tennessee's new director of homeland security on Tuesday. The FBI veteran was appointed last month, after Maj. Gen. Gerry Humble announced his retirement.
Mitchell was a member of the country's first joint terrorism task force in New York City in 1982. In 1990, he was appointed to supervise three FBI offices in Georgia and later served as an assistant special agent in New Orleans.
"The people of Tennessee are really the eyes and ears of law and safety enforcement, and our security efforts depend on the participation of everyone in this state." Mitchell said. "Tennessee's homeland security agency will lead this effort by maximizing disaster training and preparedness, and by facilitating greater information sharing and coordination among government agencies, businesses and citizens."
Washington Summit Focuses On ID Theft
Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna on Wednesday convened the state's first summit on identity theft. The overarching theme was "information -- sharing it, standardizing it, disseminating it and protecting it," he said.
Participants suggested tougher sentencing for identity thieves, a database of cases on ID theft, a one-stop center for reporting such theft, increased training for law enforcement, legislation to prevent the release of personal information without consumer consent, and laws to make it easier for businesses to share information with law enforcement.
Firm To Fund Virginia's E-Recycling Plant
A Texas-based company that specializes in information technology recovery solutions announced that it will invest $600,000 to build an e-recycling plant in Hanover County, Va. Gov. Mark Warner, a Democrat, praised the arrangement as one that "can help bridge the digital divide."
Newmarket Trading Group will handle the removal, recycling and remarketing of aging computers. The initiative is expected to add 100 new technician jobs to the company over the next two years. Newmarket chose Hanover County because of its close proximity to East Coast clients and access to shipping and transportation hubs, President Jeff Zeigler said.
"We expect rapid growth in the near future and should be processing several thousand computers a day in early 2006," he said.
NEW FEATURE
-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-
