January 13, 2006

Back to the table of Contents Page

Classifieds

Palo Alto Online

Should Palo Alto try for citywide Wi-Fi?

by Bill D'Agostino

Should Palo Alto blanket the city with wireless Internet access, or continue developing its fiber-optic system?

On Monday night, the Palo Alto City Council will consider whether to request proposals from private companies interested in installing a citywide telecommunications network. Assuming the council is interested in moving forward, one of the major questions is whether the city should seek partners to blanket the city with lower-broadband wireless access or work with providers of higher-broadband systems.

A longstanding project using fiber-optic cables, known as the "fiber-to-the-home" project, had been estimated to cost $40 million. A new city report estimates wireless access would cost approximately $3 million to cover Palo Alto, east of Interstate Highway 280.

Aside from the cheaper price tag, there are other possible benefits for considering wireless.

"It might appeal to a broader audience and provide connectivity that is not there right now," said Joe Saccio, the deputy director of the city's Administrative Services Department.

It would also place Palo Alto on par with other nearby cities. Google announced last year it would blanket its hometown, Mountain View, with free wireless Internet access and recently began testing the technology in some neighborhoods. Major cities on the wireless bandwagon include San Francisco and Philadelphia.

"It obviously has appeal," Saccio said. "It's obvious that municipalities can jump in and offer service and partner with the Googles of the world to do this."

However, a wireless project would have far less broadband than the Palo Alto City Council originally sought. A City Council memo asked for partners able to provide at least 100 megabits per second, which fiber-optic cables could provide.

Even at its fastest, wireless can only provide 54 megabits per second, staff warned. The staff's $3-million estimate is based on technology that could provide approximately 1 megabit per second of downloading.

Councilman Bern Beecham said the wireless option would allow people to access the Internet from their laptops in coffee shops. But, he added, "That's not the need that the fiber-to-the-home supporters in Palo Alto want to satisfy."

Fiber-optic cables, or another high-broadband system, would allow users to download movies on demand and take advantage of other emerging technologies, Beecham said. Fiber-optic cables also have the ability to provide cable television and telephone services.

"It really is apples and oranges," Beecham said of wireless and fiber-to-the-home.

The council was set to request proposals seeking a telecommunications partner in October, but decided to hold off until early this year. At the October meeting, there were only five council members able to vote on the issue, due to conflicts of interest among four of them.

Beecham asked the council to wait until new members took office in January.

"If council support is lukewarm, there are enough naysayers in the community that it would be difficult to proceed with this," Beecham said.

The three new council members elected in November -- Larry Klein, Peter Drekmeier and John Barton -- are not believed to have any conflicts on the matter. All expressed very strong support for the project at a forum on the issue during the fall's council race.

However, the city faces a possible legal challenge should it proceed, according to the city attorney's office. While there are "significant legal issues," none of them are "showstoppers," according to the new staff report.

The telecommunications project would also take staff time away from other major projects the city is studying, such as renovating its police headquarters, redesigning its golf course or building an auto row near U.S. Highway 101, the report warned.

Staff Writer Bill D'Agostino can be e-mailed at bdagostino@paweekly.com.

E-mail a friend a link to this story.