South Carolina may be the first state to have free, statewide wireless broadband, says Broadboand Reports. South Carolina has a land area of some 31,000 square miles.
Senator James Ritchie, introduced a joint resolution in the South Carolina Senate to create the nation’s first statewide universal wireless network. S. 465 establishes South Carolina Wireless Technology and Communications Commission to develop a public-private partnership to implement a statewide wireless broadband network.
“We have a unique opportunity to be the nation’s leader in universal wireless broadband access. By creating a public-private partnership to build on the infrastructure already in place, we can make high-speed Internet available to every South Carolinian by the end of 2008. This will truly put South Carolina at the forefront of economic development, educational opportunities and improved health care delivery but, more importantly, it will give our rural communities a real competitive advantage in the knowledge based economy of tomorrow,” Ritchie said.
The measure is co-authored by Greenville Rep. Dwight Loftis. “The idea is to leverage the state infrastructure and work with private Internet providers,” according to Loftis. A basic level of service would be free with higher pay tiers available.
South Carolina already owns infrastructure including cellular towers and frequencies that makes the idea possible, said Loftis, who has been working on it for more than a year. State House Speaker Bobby Harrell, co-authored the resolution.
Related DailyWireless articles include; Oregon’s $500 Million Statewide Wireless Network, State-wide Wireless Broadband Access, Grand Rapids + Clearwire and Statewide WiMAX in Rhode Island and Vermont Statewide Wireless.
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