[1st-mile-nm] Santa Fe City Wireless

[Richard Lowenberg]

>From this morning?s Santa Fe New Mexican.

www.santafenewmexican.com/Local%20News/-Free-wireless--just-got-cheaper

'Free wireless' just got cheaper
City launches Internet service; no coffee purchase necessary

Julie Ann Grimm | The New Mexican
12/7/2008 - 12/8/08

>From where she sat in a corner of Santa Fe's Southside Branch Library, Carol
Johnstone was virtually undisturbed. She traced one finger across the track pad
of her laptop computer for a few seconds, then fired off an e-mail with quiet
stokes on the keyboard.

Across the room, her friend and housemate Charles Summerfield checked out a
community college Web site.

Until a few months ago, Johnstone and Summerfield were among the throngs of
computer users who sought out coffee shops and other businesses with wireless
Internet service.

Now the couple makes the short trip to the library and settles in for some time
online. And because it's a free city service, they don't have to buy a thing.

"Before, I just did without," said Johnstone, "At least now I am able to keep in
touch with friends and with business. ... I have a better handle on that. I
think the library having wireless Internet is a good thing."

The City Council this summer authorized installation of wireless Internet
service at its three libraries, the convention center, airport and two
recreation centers. It's already on at the Southside and La Farge branch
libraries and at the new Santa Fe Community Convention Center, said Thomas
Williams, director of the city's Information Technology Division. Service at
the Main Library downtown should be working within two weeks, he said.

"We are waiting on a vendor to get the cabling work done (at the Main Library,)"
he said. "We were expecting it before Thanksgiving, but they weren't able to do
it."

Early on, the city ran into other snags with Comcast, which resulted in
interruptions to service at the Southside Branch Library. Williams said that
happened because of billing problems, and the situation has been rectified.

The service costs the city about $100 per month per facility following the
initial capital cost of about $152,000 for the hardware installation, said
Williams. Workers are scheduled to move to the airport when work at the library
is complete.

However, Williams said, recent cost-cutting measures might mean a slowdown on
the installation that has not happened yet at the Genoveva Chavez Community
Center and Fort Mary Complex.


-- 
Richard Lowenberg
1st-Mile Institute
P.O. Box 8001, Santa Fe, NM 87504
505-989-9110;   505-603-5200 cell
rl at 1st-mile.com  www.1st-mile.com

----------------------------------------------------------------
This message was sent using IMP, the Internet Messaging Program.