Where's Our Free, Citywide Wireless Internet?
It occured to me recently that, this past winter the Cambridge City Council approved a plan to team up with MIT to provide free, citywide wireless internet access. At the time, we were told by publications like the Cambridge Chronicle and the Harvard Crimson that the plan would be coming soon... like now:
Free wireless internet access will become available to students and residents of Cambridge alike by summer 2006, thanks to a collaboration between Harvard, the city of Cambridge, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
So, it's currently summer 2006. Where is our wireless internet? Best I can tell, this groundbreaking plan has been lost in the annals of Cambridge bureaucracy. It seems that the only mention of the plan in any City Council meeting since it was first approved in February was June 5th when City Manager Robert Healey presented a status report on the plan.
You can find the full report at the Cambridge Civic Journal, but the gist of the report was simply that the City plans to provide low speed access so as not to compete with commercial providers. Further more, it will prioritize service around City property like Public Schools and housing. Institutions like Harvard and the Museum of Science plan to provide space for antennas, as do agencies like the Cambridge Health Alliance and the Housing Authority. The City Manager's status report, however, does not mention anything about a timeline.
Of course any project of this size takes time to complete, and any initial estimation of completion date is bound to change as problems arise. Certainly I don't want the City rushing into this and providing shoddy service (though, I'm afraid by providing "low speed" access it's choosing to, rather than mistakenly doing so). However, this is a public project paid for with tax dollars, and there needs to be more accountability.
If you live in Cambridge, ask these folks what's up:
City Manger Robert Healey - citymanager@CambridgeMA.gov - (617) 349-4300
IT Director Mary Hart - Mhart@CambridgeMA.gov - (617) 349-4140
City Councilor Henrietta Davis - HDavis@CambridgeMA.gov - (617) 547-0877
City Councilor Michael Sullivan - MSullivan@CambridgeMA.gov - (617) 547-0777
I'll post the email I write and any responses I receive as they come in.
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