1. Start Wi-Fi Pilots That Are Low-Risk
The first stages of a municipal Wi-Fi network shouldn’t aspire to provide citywide service. That level of undertaking is ambitious and requires the investment of tremendous infrastructure resources. Instead, seek out opportunities to provide coverage in high-profile areas where the implementation risks are low. For example, the city of Madison, Wis., offers wireless networking at nine libraries and 14 community or cultural centers throughout the city. These 23 locations seek to bring wireless access to the populations most vulnerable to the digital divide.
This approach has the advantage of limiting the required infrastructure investment, particularly if public Wi-Fi is brought to locations with existing robust internet connectivity. The initial pilot deployments may then be used as the platform from which to launch broad coverage.
2. Use Existing Infrastructure to Build Networks
One of the compelling advantages municipalities have when deploying wireless networks is ownership, operation or influence over existing infrastructure that may serve as the backbone of a public wireless network. Using existing wiring, power and connectivity reduces the cost of wireless network programs and reduces the time to deployment.
New York used this approach on a large scale when it launched the LinkNYC program, which brings both wireless network connectivity and charging stations to approximately 1,600 locations throughout the city’s five boroughs. Each of the LinkNYC kiosks took the place of an existing telephone booth. The city took advantage of the fact the underutilized booths occupied prime locations on the streets and also had power and telecommunications infrastructure in place. The city of Portland, Ore., is undertaking a similar project using different infrastructure. Portland intends to install public Wi-Fi access points on many of the city’s existing streetlights.
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3. Think About Smart City Use Cases
Public Wi-Fi is a compelling use case for a municipal network, but the infrastructure required to support these networks also enables many other smart city use cases. The Smart+Connected City Wi-Fi program from Cisco, for example, promotes the use of municipal wireless networks to enable citywide location services, deploy smart parking and traffic monitoring solutions, provide automated utility meter reading, monitor air quality, and provide situational awareness for law enforcement.