John McClellan wrote:
This actually might be something that could be done neighborhood by neighborhood - maybe NRP grant? Lease a big pipe DSL line, set up a server & wi-fi transmit site at neighborhood office. Sell subscriptions to those in neighborhood that are interested, price to pay for monthly DSL rental and equipment cost. Gets a bit complicated with installation, maintenance, set up, dealing with virus, naughty behavior, etc.
I like the idea of rolling out a wireless network neighborhood by neighborhood as consumer interest and demand prompted as this it seems more acheivable. However, this can be done without expending any tax dollars (NRP or otherwise). If there is sufficient demand for and a willingness to pay for the service, private businesses or groups could do this themselves. Maybe some of the local ISPs would be interested in attempting this. They have the necessary technical skills and hopefully they have sufficient business skills to come up with a viable business plan and startup funding.
If I am not mistake, the City of Minneapolis owns the poles from which the power lines and other utilities are strung. Could we attach the necessary wireless hardware to those poles?
Scott McGerik http://scott.mcgerik.com/ Hawthorne, Minneapolis
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