City to flip switch on new Wi-Fi

Sliver of wireless corridor to go live, including demo for public at Lock 3 Internet cafe

By Jim Carney

Beacon Journal staff writer

Published on Friday, Jun 19, 2009

With the click of a mouse at 11 a.m. today, city officials will turn on the first section of a Wi-Fi corridor along South Main Street, from Market to Exchange streets, enabling nearby computer users equipped with wireless adapters to access the Internet for free.

The half-mile stretch of South Main Street is the first phase of a project that aims to provide free broadband Internet service to anyone in about a nine-square-mile area downtown.

The $2.2 million project, called Connect Akron, is a partnership between the city of Akron and OneCommunity, the nonprofit group that is installing the equipment.

Mark Ansboury, senior vice president/chief technology officer of OneCommunity, said the system is expected to be complete in October.

''We are hanging access points off a number of buildings'' in Akron, Ansboury said. ''Those become the Internet backbone. They provide large capacity to the wireless cloud.''

Ansboury said he hopes Akron will become a nationwide model and a ''showcase for how cities might create sustainable systems, provide better services to residents and streamline government.''

He said a goal of the project is to reach people in the ''digital divide'' who can't afford broadband Internet service.

The system is designed primarily for users outdoors and in restaurants, cafe and stores, but the signal will reach farther.

Marla Rawson, spokesperson for OneCommunity and the Knight Center, said some areas deeper inside buildings and on higher floors may need signal boosters, costing about $60-$80.

To demonstrate the system, the city is providing an Internet cafe, equipped with several laptop computers, at Lock 3 park today from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

The cafe also will be open from 6:30 to 9 p.m. during the WONE Rock the Lock concert by the bands
Blood, Sweat and Beers and a Jimmy Buffet Tribute band, Gypsies in the Palace.

When finished, the system will be available throughout the downtown area, where 31,000 people work, and will include the major medical centers of Akron General Medical Center and Akron Children's Hospital and the Summa Health System, along with the Akron Urban League, Portage Path School of Technology, the North Hill Library and Goodyear.

The coverage area runs roughly from Memorial Parkway and Tallmadge Avenue south to Interstate 76/77 and from Storer and Mercer roads east to state Route 8 and south of East Market Street. 

The project is being funded by $795,000 from the city, $625,000 from the Knight Foundation, $350,000 from the University of Akron and other contributions from Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., the Akron Community Foundation, the GAR Foundation and the Corbin Foundation.

The hardware backbone of the system is about 30 miles of fiber-optic cables and a series of wireless routers, made by Strix Systems of Dallas.

City officials are hoping federal stimulus money will be available to extend wireless to the rest of the city.

David A. Lieberth, Mayor Don Plusquellic's deputy mayor for administration and chief of staff, said $7.2 billion has been set aside nationwide for broadband use and OneCommunity will apply for a large grant.

Lieberth estimated that expanding wireless service to the entire 62 square miles of the city could cost $7 to $9 million.

For more information on the new system, go to http://www.connectakron.org.

Jim Carney can be reached at 330-996-3576 or jcarney@thebeaconjournal.com.