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Countywide wireless Internet may be in future(The Olathe News (Olathe, KS)(KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Jul. 7--It sounds like an expensive idea: Johnson County and virtually every city in it having a wireless Internet network for residents. And it actually is an expensive idea: If Olathe were building its own wireless Internet network to blanket the city's 57 square miles, it likely would cost somewhere around $9 million to $10 million. "That's just to get your access points up," said Chris Kelly, director of information technology. "That doesn't include the man-hours involved." Yet it likely won't cost the city much more than $45,000. That's because the county, Olathe and several other cities interested in the deal are going to foist the cost of the project off to the private Internet company that submits the best bid, most likely by next year. If the project is finished, it's likely to mean free wireless access for government employees, mainly police, fire and medical personnel. The public might be able to access the wireless network nearly everywhere in exchange for a subscription fee. The project, which was on a more theoretical level at the beginning of the year, is starting to move toward reality. It would be the first project of its kind where several government entities cooperate on a wireless Internet system. Starting next week, Olathe, Lenexa, Overland Park and the county are expected to enter into an agreement to get the foundation of the project moving. The thrust of the agreement is to get the main design of the project hammered out before the governments let out bids to wireless providers. The framework of the project likely will look like this: -- A private company would get the award for the project; -- In return for allowing the company to use the county's and cities' right of way for the infrastructure of the project, the governments could access the wireless signal at no cost; -- The company would offer access to the public for a fee. "The nice thing is you're not just limited to using it at home," Kelly said. "You would have true mobility. As opposed to going to a Starbucks, you have the ability to be anywhere in the developed part of Johnson County." A perk for the governments is emergency services can use the Internet access most anywhere in the county to enhance their services. On top of that, the governments are mostly absolved of the construction and operational costs of the project after it's up and running. There is a slight downside. "With this service, it's important to note in terms of speed and power, it's not going to compete with a cable or DSL," said Tim Danneberg, Olathe spokesman. The project's completion is a long way off, but it's moving quickly considering the first discussions were in September. Many cities, like San Francisco and Philadelphia, have wireless access throughout the city, but in Johnson County, it would be a unique partnership of governments. |