Municipal Wireless Networks

Why are America’s municipalities — from small town Corpus Christi and Granbury, Texas, to big cities such as Philadelphia — building wireless broadband networks and fighting state legislatures that want to ban them? The networks rely on unlicensed public airwaves to extend the reach of WiFi-type broadband coverage to blanket business districts, towns and even entire cities.

Recent reports criticizing municipal wireless networks make them sound like some socialist conspiracy. But the small towns and cities building these networks don’t agree. Come listen to their side of the story as they explain how municipal networks are spurring broadband competition, bridging the digital divide, fostering business development, and serving public safety needs.

This event was the first of a two-part series covering wireless municipal broadband issues. The purpose of this event was to describe what municipal wireless networks are and explain why members of Congress should care.

Participants

• Dianah Neff
  Chief Information Officer, City of Philadelphia
• Oscar Martinez
  Assistant City Manager, City of Corpus Christi, Texas
• Sascha Meinrath (presentation)
  Co-Founder and Project Coordinator, Champaign-Urbana Community Wireless Network, Illinois
• Marvin A. Sirbu (presentation)
  Professor, Engineering and Public Policy Chairman, Information Networking Institute, Carnegie Mellon University
• Michael Calabrese
  Vice President and Director, Wireless Future Program, New America Foundation