Connection for All Public housing projects present formidable and expensive challenges for broadband Internet access. But help is on the way in the form of wireless connectivity. By Tod Newcombe - August 2002
Public housing isn't what it used to be in Portsmouth, Va. The 633 units that made up what was once a rundown project in the city's downtown district have been demolished and are being replaced by 278 homes, condominiums and apartments for low- and moderate-income residents. The residences are now part of a planned community called Westbury, where homes have front porches, sit off of tree-lined streets and conceal garages tucked in the back to make roads and sidewalks quieter and safer. There's something less visible going on in Westbury too. Residents and owners who want to use the Internet don't have to worry about DSL, cable modems or a second phone line. They simply tap into the high-speed wireless network that connects the community to the Web. The infrastructure, which cost the Portsmouth Redevelopment and Housing Authority (PRHA) $36,000 for a server, antenna and service, is already causing something of a buzz among the first 68 residents to occupy Westbury. "There's a lot of excitement about the wireless service," said Kathy Warren, PRHA's coordinator. "We decided to provide the [wireless] capability to Westbury, because the whole project is about revitalizing the community." Public Housing Access Problems What's happening in Portsmouth is beginning to take place in other housing projects around the country, from Boston to Los Angeles and in numerous other cities. Instead of forcing low-income residents to pay the cost of a broadband connection on their own, project officials, with the aid of nonprofit organizations, are installing wireless antennas so that residents can share high-speed access at little or no cost. The idea has grabbed hold in both revitalized projects, such as Westbury, and in older, high-density residences. The reasons why public housing projects are skipping over traditional broadband for wireless are straightforward, experts say. Many broadband providers have bypassed old and crumbling public housing projects in favor of suburban communities. "Access is a very big problem in government-subsidized housing," said Alec Ross, vice president of corporate and business development at One Economy Corp., a nonprofit organization that brings technology into low-income communities. "While access has increased elsewhere, it's not coming into the homes of low-income families." Where broadband is available in subsidized housing, it's too expensive for most low-income families. Monthly costs have been rising, and that has cooled interest for consumers at the low-end of the pay scale. Nearly 68 percent of American homes have access to a broadband connection, but only 10 percent actually use it. While low-income families are willing to spend money for technology, such as a PC, few are willing to fork over the $50 or more per month it now costs for broadband access, or pay for a second phone line and a monthly subscription to an ISP. The way around that problem is to bring one high-speed connection into a low-income community, hook it up to a wireless antenna and share the access with anyone who wants to put a wireless interface card -- which cost around $50 to $100 -- into their PC. The technology is based on what's known as the 802.11 wireless-Ethernet standard, which can deliver 54Mbps wireless broadband to everyone in the neighborhood faster and cheaper than DSL or cable modems, according to Sam Churchill, a wireless expert and Web page designer, who helped put together a proposal for wireless Internet access at a major public housing project in Portland, Ore. Upfront costs are low because the infrastructure is mostly air, he explained. The beauty of these solutions is that they enable lots of people to freely share a single DSL or cable connection, according to Bob Wendel, a Cisco fellow working for One Economy on a similar project in Portland. "Wireless is easy to install, the upfront costs are low and the interface cards are just a one-time cost," he said. Another advantage is that wireless service can grow incrementally, making it easy to provide access to housing units as they are renovated and refurbished. Wendel and others agree that if a broadband wire is already in the home, it should be used. And wireless shouldn't be the solution if new housing is involved. But for existing and revitalized housing projects, wireless represents an excellent, less costly alternative to stringing wire through the floors and walls of old buildings. For example, a growing number of college campuses have begun using wireless connectivity as way to bring broadband access to students inexpensively. Turtle Creek Community College, a Native American college located in a remote part of North Dakota, built a wireless network after the local phone company bypassed the campus and the entire reservation when it laid fiber-optic cable to two towns nearby. The network uses Tsunami 45 Mbps radios and receivers from Proxim Inc., to bring high-speed Internet access to the campus and student population. Tulane University is wirelessly networking 80 buildings and three campuses using technology from Enterasys Networks. A number of other colleges, universities and corporations, including Microsoft's corporate headquarters, use high-speed wireless to create local and wide-area networks for students and workers. Lack of security is the main drawback to using wireless networks in low-income communities. According to Wendel, anybody within a wireless access point has access, making it easy for hackers to create mischief and intrude on someone's privacy. Clamping down on security problems can be done, but at a price. For example, Wendel says Cisco sells a secure wireless solution for community networks, but the option isn't cheap. Some housing directors are opting to educate users about potential security problems with wireless while others are studying the feasibility of purchasing technology with secure access points. Wendel also points out that wireless solutions are most cost-effective in projects where housing density is medium to high. Scattered or low-density projects cost more to cover and are more apt to have areas of weak coverage. So far, Westbury in Portsmouth is the only public housing project using wireless access. Interest in the technology began when PRHA installed a wireless network for its workers at nine office locations around the city. It was first extended to a community-learning center in the Westbury project and later offered into the homes, according to Dan Swanson, director of budget and procurement. PRHA uses BreezeNet antennas from Alvarion. The Westbury revitalization project is the result of a $24.6 million grant provided by the Housing and Urban Development under the HOPE IV program, which is aimed at rescuing severely distressed public-housing projects around the country. So far, 12 projects across the United States have received grants ranging from $20 million in Macon, Ga., to $427 million in Chicago aimed at demolishing old style high-rise and tenement housing blocks with a mix of single homes, condominiums and rental apartments. The grants also provide social and community services to address resident needs. Housing authority officials and nonprofit organizations see the HOPE IV projects as an excellent opportunity to bring Internet access to the low-income residents who live there. While some communities will be completely rebuilt and may have cable or DSL service available, the high cost of broadband service will remain. That's why wireless remains a viable alternative and nonprofit organizations, such as One Economy, predict there will be more requests for help on wireless projects in the future. "Over the next six to twenty-four months, I expect to see housing authorities from around the country come to us for help with wireless solutions," said Ross. -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
