AUBURN - Wi-Fi? Why not?
Jason Rearick / The Citizen
Nicole Emery surfs the Internet while waiting for her boyfriend to get out of classes at Cayuga Community College Monday.
Nicole Emery surfs the Internet while waiting for her boyfriend to get out of classes at Cayuga Community College Monday.
The group behind a seven-point plan for revitalizing the region would like to bring wireless Internet access to the city and beyond. It's a goal included in Call to Action: Blueprint for Our Region's Future that could be used to retain and recruit young people and business.
“You're dealing with a generation of folks that crave connectivity, that need this in their lives,” said Tim Fox, a member of the Blueprint panel and former chairman of the Ignite young professional group.
The applications are social and economic. It can be used to lure businesses or to close the so-called digital divide between rich and poor, urban and rural.
“The idea is everyone should have access,” Fox said.
Laptops and PDAs are just part of a growing list of Wi-Fi enabled devices.
“We're talking about a new means of communication and access,” Fox said. “The good thing is that we have a lot of that wired network in place.”
In the evolution of Internet, Wi-Fi is essentially taking the place of land-based lines. A fiber-optic line connects to a transmitter.
The wave broadcasted directly to computers or other points of access is similar to a the signal of a cordless home phone.
Wi-Fi can be used by police, firefighters and emergency responders to quickly exchange information on the road. Government offices can ditch the wires in their building and still connect in every room.
A tourist can take a breather and lengthen their stay via reservations and information from a laptop. Residents can enjoy constant access in any business downtown or subscribe to service in their homes.
The Chamber of Commerce's Leadership Cayuga class of 2007 is taking the first step to corral some of the infinite possibilities, Fox said. The class hopes to establish how the city can use it, where it can be installed and who will benefit - business, government, tourists or residents.
Establishing a Wi-Fi network would cost about $25,000 to $50,000 low-end. Joseph McCoy has made a business out of essentially thin air when he began shifting his land-based Internet service company Wavhost to wireless.
His hometown of Frankfort in Herkimer County was one of the first to get the lines.
The village of about 7,500 cut a deal with Wavhost, similar to its franchise agreement with Time Warner Cable, in April 2006. By giving Wavhost access to its utility poles and buildings, residents now enjoy competitive rates for Internet service and the village receives some revenue.
“I looked at it as a cost savings for the residents,” Frankfort Mayor Frank Moracco said. “It seems like that was the start and it just got bigger.”
The Wi-Fi service has also been a plus for economic development as an attractive feature to a Florida business that moved there. The service is offered to businesses that use the incubator office on the second floor of the municipal building and a proposed RV park would also be able to take advantage.
All the village departments are connected with Wi-Fi as well.
For the time being, the strength of the signals is limited to a degree, but still the best bet for getting rural communities connected to the worldwide Web.
“The steps to unwire - the rural communities will benefit from this because of the nature of how far the houses are apart from each other,” McCoy said. “Rural connectivity will continue to be one of the strong suits of Wi-Fi.”
The technology has already caught the attention of some of the city's smaller neighbors in Cayuga County. Both Fair Haven and Aurora have considered introducing the technology.
“The state park gets about 3,000 people in a year and a lot of these people want to check with the office, check e-mail, while they're here,” Fair Haven Mayor Bill McVea said.
He started looking into Wi-Fi options after he noticed a daily visitor at village hall this past summer. A tourist had been using the wireless signal leaking from the building to connect from his laptop.
McVea believes it could be a cost-effective tool for promoting tourism.
Though the Leadership Cayuga report isn't due out until spring, Fox said the plan will probably start with establishment of a hub in downtown Auburn that can be expanded outward.
“Hopefully within the year we'll be well beyond the planning process,” Fox said.
Staff writer Shane Liebler can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 248 or shane.liebler@lee.net
“You're dealing with a generation of folks that crave connectivity, that need this in their lives,” said Tim Fox, a member of the Blueprint panel and former chairman of the Ignite young professional group.
The applications are social and economic. It can be used to lure businesses or to close the so-called digital divide between rich and poor, urban and rural.
“The idea is everyone should have access,” Fox said.
Laptops and PDAs are just part of a growing list of Wi-Fi enabled devices.
“We're talking about a new means of communication and access,” Fox said. “The good thing is that we have a lot of that wired network in place.”
In the evolution of Internet, Wi-Fi is essentially taking the place of land-based lines. A fiber-optic line connects to a transmitter.
The wave broadcasted directly to computers or other points of access is similar to a the signal of a cordless home phone.
Wi-Fi can be used by police, firefighters and emergency responders to quickly exchange information on the road. Government offices can ditch the wires in their building and still connect in every room.
A tourist can take a breather and lengthen their stay via reservations and information from a laptop. Residents can enjoy constant access in any business downtown or subscribe to service in their homes.
The Chamber of Commerce's Leadership Cayuga class of 2007 is taking the first step to corral some of the infinite possibilities, Fox said. The class hopes to establish how the city can use it, where it can be installed and who will benefit - business, government, tourists or residents.
Establishing a Wi-Fi network would cost about $25,000 to $50,000 low-end. Joseph McCoy has made a business out of essentially thin air when he began shifting his land-based Internet service company Wavhost to wireless.
His hometown of Frankfort in Herkimer County was one of the first to get the lines.
The village of about 7,500 cut a deal with Wavhost, similar to its franchise agreement with Time Warner Cable, in April 2006. By giving Wavhost access to its utility poles and buildings, residents now enjoy competitive rates for Internet service and the village receives some revenue.
“I looked at it as a cost savings for the residents,” Frankfort Mayor Frank Moracco said. “It seems like that was the start and it just got bigger.”
The Wi-Fi service has also been a plus for economic development as an attractive feature to a Florida business that moved there. The service is offered to businesses that use the incubator office on the second floor of the municipal building and a proposed RV park would also be able to take advantage.
All the village departments are connected with Wi-Fi as well.
For the time being, the strength of the signals is limited to a degree, but still the best bet for getting rural communities connected to the worldwide Web.
“The steps to unwire - the rural communities will benefit from this because of the nature of how far the houses are apart from each other,” McCoy said. “Rural connectivity will continue to be one of the strong suits of Wi-Fi.”
The technology has already caught the attention of some of the city's smaller neighbors in Cayuga County. Both Fair Haven and Aurora have considered introducing the technology.
“The state park gets about 3,000 people in a year and a lot of these people want to check with the office, check e-mail, while they're here,” Fair Haven Mayor Bill McVea said.
He started looking into Wi-Fi options after he noticed a daily visitor at village hall this past summer. A tourist had been using the wireless signal leaking from the building to connect from his laptop.
McVea believes it could be a cost-effective tool for promoting tourism.
Though the Leadership Cayuga report isn't due out until spring, Fox said the plan will probably start with establishment of a hub in downtown Auburn that can be expanded outward.
“Hopefully within the year we'll be well beyond the planning process,” Fox said.
Staff writer Shane Liebler can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 248 or shane.liebler@lee.net
The Citizens' Say
There are 8 comment(s)
Julie wrote on Feb 21, 2007 1:18 PM:
Ted wrote on Feb 21, 2007 9:14 AM:
Wi not wrote on Feb 21, 2007 4:15 AM:
Wi Not wrote on Feb 21, 2007 12:15 AM:
Investigate WiMAX Instead wrote on Feb 20, 2007 5:52 PM:
AJ wrote on Feb 20, 2007 5:43 PM:
Dan wrote on Feb 20, 2007 5:32 PM:
Good to see wrote on Feb 20, 2007 3:18 PM: