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Wi-Fi wave heading for beach communities

St. Pete Beach and others are studying wireless technology and how it might help city services.

By PAUL SWIDER
Published July 10, 2005

As wireless technology gains popularity, experts in the field have been touting the potential uses of such a network in area communities.

Frank McCarthy, CEO of Citi Wifi, recently told St. Pete Beach commissioners his company is designing a network that caters to using the wireless Internet for phone service. Instead of using up your cell phone minutes, your phone would connect to Wi-Fi and you would call anywhere for a flat fee, say roughly $30 a month.

But government itself might be the biggest beneficiary of a wireless network.

"The people to watch are the governments that are doing innovative things," said Christian Sandvig, a researcher at the University of Illinois.

He said the growth parallels that of the phone network that started 100 years ago as a hodgepodge of little networks before coalescing into a monolith. "Think in terms of this being a utility that's just starting out."

McCarthy's vice president, Phil Collins, used the utility metaphor in describing to the St. Pete Beach commission the mystery and potential of Wi-Fi:

"It's like someone came in the Stone Age and built a network to run electricity through. People would have said, "What can we do with that?' "

Citi Wifi comes at the issue from a consumer angle. McCarthy told St. Pete Beach officials they could have roughly the deal he gave Dunedin: he'll build the network and let the city use it for free, in exchange for a cooperative marketing arrangement. McCarthy would make his money on subscribers who join the network for its ease of use and because it will be at least as fast but cheaper than other broadband access. Like Dunedin, the city could even get a piece of the net profit.

"We want to build our network out on the backs of residential subscribers," he told the commission. Citi Wifi is making a similar pitch to other beach communities as well as most of the cities in the Tampa Bay area. McCarthy said beach cities are attractive because a dense population with money means he can have many subscribers quickly with a relatively small investment.

Sandvig warns that allowing a private entity to run a Wi-Fi network has its dangers. While legal issues are unclear for Wi-Fi, a private network might act like a monopoly. A recent U.S. Supreme Court decision gave cable companies the right to exclude other providers from their wired networks, so the same is conceivable in wireless space.

"With a Wi-Fi network, information is always at your fingertips," said Manish Agrawal, a University of South Florida professor who teaches about networks. "No matter where you are, you're not missing anything."

Agrawal talks about commuting in a wireless world. Suddenly mass transit becomes attractive even if it were slower because instead of staring at traffic, you get a jump on your work before you get to the office.

Opposite the private network is the community network, of which there are few or none in the Tampa Bay area. These networks arise when groups of individuals point wireless access points from their homes into public, allowing anyone to use the connections for free.

ProjectSafety presents another option in the bay area as a network built with public safety as its first priority, but with consumer and commercial applications access.

A nonprofit venture run out of the Young-Rainey Center, the project is seeking to build a network on the beaches and perhaps throughout Pinellas County that would readily survive disasters like hurricanes. The network would be available to the public on a subscription basis.

"Not having broadband wireless Internet is like stopping the building of the railroads in the past," said Larry Karisny, the leader of ProjectSafety and also a moving force behind wireless efforts at BayWalk in downtown St. Petersburg.

He said a wireless network like his also will attract companies internationally that are looking to try new applications and services, thus spurring innovation and economic development. "High-quality communication infrastructure will continue to be an important infrastructure asset when choosing a place to work and live."

Madeira Beach Commissioner John Wolbert is an active supporter of ProjectSafety. He has urged other communities to endorse the concept as his city has. Treasure Island and Redington Shores have already endorsed Karisny's project.

"The funding is there," he said. "You have to say, "Do you want it,' or they'll go somewhere else."

When McCarthy spoke to St. Pete Beach commissioners, he touted wireless digital billboards that could be updated instantly regarding traffic, evacuations or even public events and parking. The commissioners were enthused enough to direct staff members to more fully research a possible partnership while McCarthy developed a more formal proposal.

" Wi-Fi gives the city an opportunity to improve communications internally and with the citizens," said Commissioner Deborah Martohue. The city was excited to learn it could broadcast meetings online to anyone with an Internet connection, not just those who live in the city and have cable TV. "To have the opportunity for live video feeds from anywhere is meaningful."

Many of the non emergency applications appeal to businesses as well. Dispatching city workers is the same as dispatching electricians or plumbers, so businesses could get their crews to the customer faster and cheaper.

McCarthy gives bandwidth away for special events and has free access available in downtown St. Petersburg. Karisny is also working with the Downtown Partnership and BayWalk to create "location-based" services, which can include anything from video from shops and restaurants to instant deals only those connected would know of, like blue-light specials only more so.

This kind of "push marketing" might seem intrusive to some but connected generations have shown in other cities that they want to hear about the secret concert that suddenly occurs or the get-it-while-it-lasts drink special. And, of course, there is huge potential for interactive gaming.

"People currently use the Internet for local information 50 percent of the time," Karisny said. "Local wireless broadband will allow them to have more accessibility to many more local applications projected to exceed the current use of the Internet globally."

McCarthy emphasizes opportunities to use Wi-Fi as an economic development tool in places like Midtown.

"Information is power," he said, emphasizing education and employment options. "It's all about getting access to information anywhere at any time."

The wireless Internet is an attractive frontier to some businesspeople, even while the potential market is still trying to understand why. There are also other similar technologies that may change the landscape depending on how well they work. Until such community networks are built, though, it's anyone's guess about the possibilities.

"People find really creative ways of using them once they are in place," said Agrawal from USF. "The question is, "Who will start it?' It's probably a good idea for government to spend a few dollars."

[Last modified July 9, 2005, 23:34:17]