Wireless Atlanta has issued an RFP (pdf) for a wireless cloud serving citizens, city workers, and public safety employees. The city (downtown maps) plans to have a contractor build the system and will lease bandwidth on it, as is the case with most current RFPs. The city of Atlanta, Georgia (pop. 425,000), covers 132 square miles. Bids are due August, 2006.
Atlanta wants 95 percent outdoors and 90 percent ground/second floor coverage. Points will be given for low-cost or “free” access.
Their FAQ has details:
How will Wireless Atlanta be funded?
Wireless Atlanta will be funded by a private service provider that partners with the City. The City expects to invest no taxpayer dollars to support the capital and operating expenses of the network.
When will a network be deployed?
The City released a Request for Proposal (RFP) in June and expects that network deployment could begin as early as the spring of 2007.
Will Wireless Atlanta compete with local Internet Service Providers (ISPs)?
The Wireless Atlanta broadband service will be provided by a private service provider. However, the City requires that the selected service provider offer wholesale services to other service providers at a competitive rate. The City believes that its residents and visitors benefit by increased competition, which leads to lower prices and value added services.
Why doesn’t the City wait until WiMAX?
The City believes that Wi-Fi and WiMAX will be complimentary technologies for at least the next eight years.
Proposers may decide to use WiMAX equipment to provide backhaul connections to the Wi-Fi nodes located throughout the City since WiMAX solutions currently provide fixed broadband connectivity.
Atlanta, of course, is home to Earthlink. But it’s also corporate headquarters for Cingular Wireless, the largest mobile phone company in the United States with over 56 million subscribers, and BellSouth, which is merging with AT&T in a $67 billion deal.
BellSouth’s Wireless Broadband Service (FAQ) is a WiMAX-like service that uses the 2.3 GHz band. It delivers up to 1.5 Mbps downstream and up to 384Kbps upstream.
The company initially deployed the service last August in Athens, Georgia, and has since deployed in Palatka, Fla.; New Orleans, La.; Gulfport, Miss.; and DeLand, Fla. BellSouth plans to expand the service to additional cities throughout 2006.
BellSouth’s broadband wireless service is currently not available in Atlanta. BellSouth is using Navini gear in Athens. Navini also has three pre-Mobile WiMAX networks in Australia including the two largest cities – Sydney and Melbourne.
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