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Chicago Seeks Private Sector Help to Build Citywide Wi-Fi Network

6:30 am on June 2, 2006 | Category: Business, Internet, Wi-Fi, Wireless Technology

Americaâ€™s third biggest city, Chicago, Illinois, is jumping on to the citywide Wi-Fi bandwagon, announcing plans to seek help from the private sector in offering a free or low-cost wireless internet service.

Several key locations in downtown Chicago, including Daley Plaza, Millennium Park, and several public libraries, are already equipped with free Wi-Fi hotspots, but city authorities now hoping to expand this coverage across a huge 235 square mile area.

The city has issued a request for proposals from private companies, which will hopefully bring some ideas to the table about how to build out the network and make it profitable. Margaret Laurino, who chairs Chicagoâ€™s Economic, Capital, and Technology Development Committee believes that bids will be submitted by EarthLink, AT&T, and Google.

In reality, however, Google is probably a bit of a long shot. The internet giant has said that it has no plans to work on mesh Wi-Fi projects outside of the San Francisco Bay area, and Chicago certainly doesnâ€™t fit into that locale. Then again, if Google sees profit potential, and a smoother ride than San Francisco, they could always reconsider.

In total, the wireless network will cost around $18 million, and take as many as 18 months to build, Laurino says, but she hopes that the city can pick a vendor and get started by the fall.

These expectations might be a little unrealistic though, especially considering that the city is driving quite a hard bargain for private sector partners. Mayor Richard Daley says that he will expect the winning proposal to include a provision to set up and provide access to computers for low income residents.

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