First free city-wide Wi-Fi network to shut down
It would seem that the dream of free Wi-Fi networks that cover entire cities may have to remain just that, a dream.
St. Cloud, Fla. launched a 15-square mile free Wi-Fi network in 2006, but thanks to budget concerns, the network will shut down to the citizens of the city this Thursday, but remain in place for use by city officials and emergency services.
According to the Orlando Sentinel, St. Cloud is suffering a $1.3 million dollar budget shortfall this year, and by shutting down the network to its citizens, the city stands to cut the budget by $370,000. This cut will include some of the maintenance that has had to be kept up on the network, as well as the tech support desk for the network to help people in the city with connecting to the network. The network initially cost the city $2.6 million, and it was taking $600,000 a year to maintain.
Mayor Donna Hart, who voted against shutting down the network, said, ”No matter what people thought of it, it did make our community somewhat unique.” She went on to add, “We’ve only had it running for three years, so we really haven’t recouped all of our investment. A lot of the citizens who use it are citizens who can’t afford to get Internet service another way.” The biggest concern for Mayor Hart was the unemployed people who were using the network to look for and apply to jobs.
It was estimated that 2,500 devices connected to the network each day, and that number was made up of a mixture of residents, tourists and businesses.
Several other cities have tried launching city-wide Wi-Fi networks, but technical issues or funding has ended almost all of those efforts. MetroFi, a company specializing in such efforts, attempted to roll out a service in Portland, Ore., but it was shut down before it even had a chance to be activated.
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