Wi-Fi more common in Corridor downtown areas

By Dave DeWitte

A revival in public Wi-Fi systems is bringing improved connectivity to downtown areas in the Corridor and at the same time raising the possibility that they will become a bridge to citywide public Wi-Fi networks.

Downtown Iowa City activated a new downtown Wi-Fi system in February on the Pedestrian Mall. The city of Cedar Rapids plans to solicit proposals for a new downtown Wi-Fi system this spring, and the city of Marion has discussed plans to improve the downtown Wi-Fi system it launched more than two years ago.

Wi-Fi is short for Wireless Fidelity, a relatively inexpensive radio frequency technology for providing wireless bandwidth within a local area. Providers of public Wi-Fi typically offer the service free, or allow an hour or two of free use before charging for the service

The payback for offering Wi-Fi is that it helps attract and keep visitors. It’s especially important in attracting the younger, technologically savvy visitors that are important to fostering an innovation-based tech economy, according to Nancy Bird, executive director of the Iowa City Downtown District.

“We have talked about phasing this in throughout the downtown district,” Ms. Bird said. “Phase I is the Ped Mall. That’s where there are benches. That’s where most of the cafes are, and that’s where most people sit down to use the Internet.”

The system was designed so that Wi-Fi availability would be “seamless” for University of Iowa students and faculty as they left the University of Iowa’s Wi-Fi-equipped Pentracrest area and entered the downtown area.

The Iowa City Downtown District relied on private support to make the Wi-Fi system possible. South Slope Communications and Iowa Network Systems provided the network infrastructure and service. Gazette Communications, the owner of KCRG-TV9 and The Gazette, provided an in-kind service agreement to manage the splash and landing pages through which Wi-Fi users enter the service.

The landing page will contain links to downtown event information on the Web, advertising and the downtown district logo. Having the information at the fingertips of visitors is important, Ms. Bird said, because it’s always been a challenge to provide information on the current status of downtown events to visitors.

In Cedar Rapids, ImOn Communications has operated a pilot public Wi-Fi system in a four-square-block area around the Armstrong Centre since last year, according to Jeff Janssen, vice president of sales and marketing at the Corridor cable TV and communications provider, which has been expanding its footprint in the Cedar Rapids metro area.

Mr. Janssen said ImOn expects to submit a proposal to operate a public downtown Wi-Fi system in response to a request for proposals the city of Cedar Rapids is expected to issue this month.

“We look at this as a useful tool for people who work and play in the downtown,” Mr. Jannsen said. “It’s people who don’t want to use their mobile or data minutes with their phone.”

ImOn hopes to break even on the system by offering limited hours of use – say two free hours per day per visitor – and generating some advertising revenue from the landing page to help defray expenses. The company will try to design its Wi-Fi offering to avoid cannibalizing its existing base of customers, who might otherwise drop their pay service to use free municipal Wi-Fi.

The public Wi-Fi system might also provide useful communication infrastructure that could be used for municipal services, such as transmitting information in the downtown parking system.

The city of Cedar Rapids will initially seek proposals for a Wi-Fi system that would be accessible “anywhere there’s a parking meter,” according to Dominic Roberts, the city’s chief information officer. But a key principle of the city’s request for proposal would be to create a system that could be built upon throughout the city.

“The city’s interest is that we have a cohesive network that citizens would be able to take advantage of regardless of where the user is located – they would have a seamless experience,” Mr. Roberts said.

Among other things, that would require “reciprocity” among vendors, so that users of Wi-Fi wouldn’t have to register with multiple vendors to use the Wi-Fi throughout the city.

Mr. Roberts said the system would be privately owned and operated, although it could serve public areas such as parks and public swimming pools.

“We don’t want to be a municipal Internet service provider,” Mr. Roberts said. “They are not sustainable in a lot of other places.”

One of the issues for municipal Wi-Fi systems has been technological obsolescence, Mr.
Roberts said. By the time a host wants to update, repair or overhaul a system, Wi-Fi technology often has advanced and evolved.

A variety of companies have expressed interest in operating the system, Mr. Roberts said, although he said ImOn has so far exhibited the greatest interest. ImOn is already operating a free local Wi-Fi system operating inside and outside the NewBo City Market on Third Avenue SE, in addition to the pilot system surrounding the Armstrong Centre.

Mr. Roberts said ImOn’s solution also appears to be the most viable. According to Mr. Janssen, ImOn is using a mesh Wi-Fi network from Ruckus Wireless.

“It’s highly scalable and could be piecemealed in,” Mr. Janssen said. He said users could jump from area to area into Wi-Fi networks downtown, or in Westdale Mall.

ImOn is the bandwidth provider to the city of Marion’s downtown Wi-Fi network, according to Ryan Miller, the city’s public works director, however the city owns the Wi-Fi system itself.

The Wi-Fi antennas are co-located at the city’s downtown intersection traffic signals, which have fiber optic connections.

Usage of the downtown Marion Wi-Fi has been great during downtown festivals and good at other times during warm weather months, Mr. Miller said. ImOn provides increased bandwidth at no extra cost during big events.

An agreement with The Marion Times, an independent local newspaper, was to have provided local information on the landing page for the Marion Wi-Fi system. Mr. Miller said the Times created the page, but the city has not addressed the technical issues needed to initiate the page.

“There’s discussion about improving the quality of the project, as well as expanding it,” Mr. Miller said. “Nowadays, people want it.”

Public Wi-Fi has been discussed by the city of Hiawatha with ImOn and other companies, according to Stacy Schryba-Mead, the city’s information technology director.

“It’s just taking time,” Ms. Schryba-Mead said, referring to the time needed for the fiber build-out to provide the bandwidth capability to the Wi-Fi system.

The city of North Liberty discussed the possibility of citywide Wi-Fi intermittently from 2005 through 2008, according to Assistant City Administrator Tracey Mulcahey. The project was deemed cost-prohibitive at that time, but the city is planning for Wi-Fi as it develops the 40-acre Centennial Park. In addition, Ms. Mulcahey said, the city has Wi-Fi in the Penn Meadows Park and city offices, including the city council chambers.