Free Wi-Fi Aids New Orleans Recovery

Wi-fi technology is helping aid workers and residents of hurricane- ravaged New Orleans get the city back on its feet.

Last fall, IT administrators in New Orleans set up the nation's first free wireless Internet network that is solely owned and operated by a major U.S. city. The move was first aimed at helping aid workers do their jobs and was then expanded to boost the city's struggling businesses and enable residents to communicate with friends, relatives and much-needed federal and city services.

 

While residents had an overwhelmingly positive response to the set up of the network, area telephone and cable companies weren't as happy about the deal which offered free service within a three-square-mile range that covers the French Quarter, the central business district and the warehouse district. Vendors that offer broadband Internet service in the area have complained, pointing to a state law that mandates that any municipal network run at 128Kbit/sec -- a far cry from the 512Kbit/sec service that is offered now.

Chris Drake, project manager in the mayor's Office of Technology in New Orleans, says they're working hard to keep this free, high-speed service up and running. For starters, the city's CIO Greg Meffert is pushing to have the state law changed, allowing municipalities to run networks at higher speeds, according to Drake. The city also is in negotiations with Earthlink. Drake says they want the ISP to take over the existing network and then build it out to cover the entire area where the city's population has returned. So far, Earthlink is reportedly agreeing to do this at the company's expense. This free Earthlink service wouldn't be able to run at 512Kbit/sec, says Drake, but they should be able to keep it at 384Kbit/sec -- fast enough to enable most applications and Voice over IP phone calls.

The New Orleans city council will meet Thursday night to haggle over the deal.

''This has been central to the recovery,'' says Drake. ''You would have thought you were bringing starving people food from the reaction on the street and the phone calls. At City Hall, nobody comes down to say 'thank you'. To get calls from people to say 'thanks' was unusual and heartening. We heard stories about law firms being able to come back to town. People were able to call relatives without driving 30 miles to get access. It was really pretty unique.''

 

 

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