City-wide WiFi for Madison, Wisconsin

• Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz announced yesterday that a group of high-technology companies has committed to building and operating a wireless Internet ("Wi-Fi") network in Madison with no expense to city taxpayers.
• The network will initially cover the downtown area, and eventually extend to cover the entire city.
• Deployment downtown is expected to be completed by March 2006 and, after successful deployment downtown, coverage will be completed for the rest of the city by early 2007.
• "This is exciting news for Madison residents, businesses and visitors," said Cieslewicz.
• "In my Healthy City plan I identified WiFi as a goal for our community, and I am pleased that we are soon going to see that goal become a reality.
• In addition to providing an important new service for Madison residents and businesses, it will further strengthen Madison's national reputation as a highly-livable, business-friendly, technologically savvy community."
• Two companies -- Cellnet and WFI -- will build and operate the new network, in cooperation with MGE, which is providing access on its streetlights for the placement of WiFi transmitters.
• Internet access will be provided on a wholesale basis to retail Internet Service Providers, which will in turn sell access to the public.
• Pricing will be competitive with other high-speed Internet options, with the added benefit of being available in public spaces such as parks.
• The announcement is the culmination of months-long process that began with the release of a joint RFP in December, 2004 by the City, Dane County and State of Wisconsin.
• An AOL-led consortium was the leading respondent to that RFP, but AOL withdrew from the project in September.
• Following that decision, WFI, which had partnered with AOL and invested significant resources in the project, sought out a new partner and identified Cellnet, forming the partnership that was announced yesterday.