San Jose considers WiFi expansion

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The San Jose City Council is set to vote today on whether to seek proposals to expand areas of free wireless Internet access downtown.

However, San Jose has no plans at this point to follow the lead of San Francisco and other cities and provide free wireless access throughout the city. That apparently is because of opposition from so-called ``stakeholders,'' including business leaders as well as providers of fee-based high-speed Internet access services.

The proposed expansion would bring free wireless Internet, or WiFi, connections to the city's parks and public libraries as well as to several downtown corridors including First Street from William to Santa Clara streets; Santa Clara Street from Seventh Street to Highway 87; South Almaden Boulevard from Santa Clara Street to Woz Way; and a swath just west of Highway 87.

The city already operates free WiFi areas, or hotspots, at San Pedro Square, Plaza de Cesar Chavez and Circle of the Palms. At these locations, people can log onto the Internet for free, as long as their laptops have special hardware to pick up the Internet signals, which are transmitted via radio waves. The existing hotspots were installed in March 2004 and serve an average of 75 people a day, according to a city staff report.

With today's vote, San Jose steps further into what has become a sometimes controversial policy debate. Over the past few years, cities across America -- including Philadelphia and Cedar Rapids, Iowa -- have proposed city-operated Internet services. They sometimes have met strong resistance from cable and phone companies, which view these efforts as competition and an unnecessary increase in government bureaucracy.

Supporters of municipally owned wireless networks argue that delivering Internet access to every citizen should be of the same priority as delivering utilities like water and electricity.

If the city council decides to launch a formal request for proposals, companies will be invited to submit written plans for bringing WiFi to those areas.

It is not yet clear how fast an Internet connection the city would require for its expanded hotspots, or what technology it hopes to install. In August, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom made an official call for companies to submit suggestions on how to bring WiFi to the entire 49-square-mile city, and specified a rate of 1 megabit per second, slightly faster than conventional DSL.

Internet search giant Google has offered to install a WiFi network in San Francisco at no cost, as has Mountain View's MetroFi, which operates citywide WiFi networks -- available for a monthly fee -- in Santa Clara and Cupertino.

Chris Sacca, Google's head of new business development, said Google was not aware of the San Jose proposal and has no plans at this time to get involved in any city initiative other than San Francisco's.

``But it's exciting for us to see other cities embracing the idea of providing Internet access to everyone,'' Sacca said.

In advance of today's vote, the city's Information Technology Department asked for input on WiFi from ``stakeholders,'' including downtown businesses, neighborhood business districts, airport officials and media opinion writers, as well as existing providers of high-speed Internet access such as SBC and Comcast.

The stakeholders seemed disinclined to launch an initiative as ambitious as San Francisco's, according to a staff report.

``They didn't think it was right for the city to use city funds to try to blanket the entire city,'' said John Bjurman, chief information officer of the IT Department. ``They felt it is really the realm of private industry to do that function.''

The city estimates that expanding its free WiFi hotspots will cost an estimated $100,000, which could come from the General Purpose Parking Fund and the Redevelopment Agency.

San Jose's Information Technology Department states that having larger areas of WiFi access downtown could greatly enhance city events such as the Zero-One technology festival, scheduled for August 2006, and the 2006 Grand Prix race.

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S.J. will seek bids for WiFi plan

In what could be a step toward citywide wireless Internet service, the San Jose City Council Tuesday unanimously approved a plan to expand free wireless access to all city parks and libraries, and to several downtown thoroughfares.

Over the next two months, the city will seek proposals from private companies to bring wireless Internet, or WiFi, to areas beyond its three current hotspots. It expects to select a vendor by January.

While all 10 council members present supported the measure, Councilman Dave Cortese, who supervises San Jose's southeastern section, questioned whether the city had abandoned its goal to bring affordable WiFi to the entire city. Over the past two years, San Francisco and Philadelphia have launched initiatives to bring cheap or free WiFi to all their residents.

``Why are we focusing on just downtown?'' Cortese asked his fellow council members. ``Back in December 2003 we directed the city toward the goal of citywide WiFi, but now it's October 2005.''

John Bjurman, head of the city's Information Technology Department, told Cortese citywide WiFi was still a possibility. He said his staff believed it was better to expand little by little than to launch a large-scale plan that could be costly for taxpayers.

``We don't want this to be just downtown -- we want to spread it throughout the city,'' Bjurman said.

Valleywide vision

He noted that the Joint Venture Silicon Valley Network public policy group has been pushing for WiFi to cover all of Silicon Valley, and that San Jose could participate in that effort.

An Information Technology Department staff report on the plan said a majority of so-called ``stakeholders'' polled on their opinions of WiFi in San Jose were against a citywide plan because they felt such an effort would be better left to private industry. Stakeholders included local media opinion writers, parks and library employees, business leaders and representatives from SBC and Comcast, which currently offer Internet access to residents for a fee.

The city already operates WiFi hotspots at Plaza de Cesar Chavez, San Pedro Square and Circle of the Palms. At those locations, individuals with WiFi-enabled laptops can log on to the Internet for free.

The expansion plan would first bring WiFi coverage to the downtown area surrounding the Guadeloupe River, to McEnery Park, and to approximately five-block sections of Santa Clara, San Fernando, San Carlos, First and Second streets as well as Park Avenue and Almaden Boulevard.

The city estimates that installing WiFi in these areas will cost $100,000 plus $60,000 a year in maintenance expenses. It hopes that companies that submit proposals can help them defray some of the overall expense.

Parking, traffic signs

Tuesday's vote also cleared the way for the city's Transportation Department to install WiFi to deliver data to its ``Parking Guidance Systems'' project. Thirteen digital signs will be installed downtown to bring up-to-the-minute parking and traffic information to commuters.

Joint Venture Silicon Valley Vice President Seth Fearey said Tuesday that his group has been meeting with information technology directors from about 15 different Silicon Valley cities for the past year to discuss installing WiFi throughout the region.

``We want Silicon Valley to be the most convenient place in the U.S. if you want to be connected to your e-mail,'' he said. ``It should be very simple and straightforward.''

Joint Venture expects next month to launch a formal request for suggestions from private industry and non-profits on how to bring WiFi to the entire valley.

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