Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce issues an RFP: The group is asking for proposals to build hotspots in several targeted areas, including the central business district and along the Oklahoma River. The provider would have to bear most costs but would get all revenue. Some supplemental funding from a community partner might be available. They're asking for 384 Kbps minimum, and are looking just at outdoor coverage. The region has 1.3m residents (600K in the city itself).
Corpus Christi negotiating with EarthLink: The city was an early adopter of Tropos mesh gear for municipal purposes. It's now turning to retail and public access. A pilot network covers 80 percent of residents and 65 percent of the city's area. The deal would have EarthLink charging $20/month. No word on digital inclusion, training programs, or other benefits that might be part of a contract.
Work progresses on the plan for Rhode Island Wireless Innovation Networks (RI-WINS), a state-wide effort: This video is of a question-and-answer session organized by O'Reilly editor and writer Brian Jepson, a long-time resident of the state with the longest name. RI-WINS is a large-scale public/private effort that already has a pilot network deployed. They want to create a network with fixed and mobile components of at least 1 Mbps across the entire state, border to border (to sea). The pilot phase is checking out how different technology will work; IBM is the lead player in the pilot.
Deal with power company has pushed forward city-wide Wi-Fi: Lebanon, Ore., has mounted 42 of 12 Wi-Fi access points after completing negotiations for pole access with a utility that powers about 1/4 of the city's area. Residents get 10 hours of access at no cost per month, but will pay the provider who operates the network for a full subscription. The city owns the gear; the provider operates the network.
Kansas City International Airport (Missouri) turns off the fee on their Wi-Fi: Sprint Nextel originally operated the network charging $10 a day for access. However, the airport cleverly wrote a contract in which equipment reverted to the airport's ownership at the expiration of the deal. The airport will absorb what a KCI spokesman called the whopping $800/month operating cost. Okay, I used the word whopping.