Bob Brewin dives into three cities that are deploying large-area Wi-Fi networks for public-safety-only and mixed-use purposes: Spokane has unwired 100 city blocks, Rio Rancho claims over a 100 square miles, and Cook County ultimately expects nearly 1,000 square miles of coverage for public safety in Chicago and surrounding areas.
The movement shows that municipal Wi-Fi has moved from a curiosity explored without many concrete goals--let's bring more people into downtown and see what happens, for instance--into a critical part in managing emergency response for fire, police, and medical personnel. When major incidents hit, the critical question is how well these networks perform, especially compared to cellular, landline, and proprietary (and expensive) public-safety band equipment.
Spokane and Rio Rancho will offer public access to the network, while Cook County is focusing purely on public safety. Cook County's routers can switch to cellular or satellite networks as needed.