Boston wireless hits downtown in pilot phase

Quincy Market, North End get high-speed access

By: Jack McCluskey

Posted: 10/19/06

Mayor Thomas Menino announced Monday that Boston 's Wireless Initiative is entering the pilot phase, starting with the lighting of two hot spots downtown and the announcing of a demonstration wireless network to be built in Roxbury.

According to an Oct. 16 press release, WiFi HotZones were installed in Quincy Market and the North End's Columbus Park . A complete high-speed wireless network will be tested in the Dudley Square and Grove Hall neighborhoods of Roxbury, with construction starting later this year.

"We said we would move quickly and we have," Menino said in the release. "The Boston Wireless Initiative is up and running."

The demonstration planned for Roxbury will cover approximately one square-mile and reach nearly 5,000 households, according to the press release.

"The Grove Hall and Dudley Square initiative -- which is really a network, not just a hot spot -- sends a clear message to the neighborhoods that bringing service to everyone is our number one priority," Menino said in the release.

Four companies -- BelAir Networks, MetroNext Inc., GigaBeam Corp. and Charys Holding Company -- will donate technology or services necessary to the project.

MetroNext founder Tom Wetmore said he had been interested in the project for a while and is thrilled to be a part of it.

"At the beginning, it was just the Wireless Task Force, and it was pretty clandestine," Wetmore said. "No one really knew what they were up to. Now they are just trying to see how it will work and where it will be implemented."

Wetmore, speaking on a conference call with GigaBeam Vice President of Marketing John Krzywicki, said when he found out about the project he contacted the Wireless Task Force, which was created specifically for the purpose of bringing wireless connectivity to Boston , and "explained the paradigm to them."

The paradigm, he and Krzywicki explained, is the city's need to reconcile its desire to extend high-speed Internet access to those who can't afford it with the actual expense of such a project.

"The city is looking at ways to minimize costs and because of that, they will probably end up relying on a lot of wireless because it is just multiples of times cheaper than fiber," Krzywicki said, explaining that a GigaBeam WiFiber wireless link can cost $40,000 while laying a mile of fiber-optic cable can run upwards of $500,000.

"Our technology is the first that allows for high-speed network access without having to tear up the pavement," Wetmore added.

The Roxbury project will use Wi-Fi mesh radio nodes, antennae and other equipment from BelAir Networks, a network backhaul from MetroNext, high-speed radio equipment from GigaBeam and services and maintenance from Charys Technology Group.

Charys Chief Sales Officer Lester Boring said the Boston Wireless Initiative offered a great opportunity to get involved with neighborhoods and help bridge the digital divide, noting that the tech divide gets bigger every year, instead of smaller.

"This is a great opportunity for Charys to showcase its abilities," Boring said. "It brings technology to a lot of people who might not be able to afford it otherwise. It helps the economy by allowing business to take place online.

"It brings information to churches and schools, to people who have been left behind," he continued.

Boring said Charys has been involved with similar projects in other cities, and has bids on projects in Chicago and Atlanta . While each project is unique, he said Boston has taken the correct approach.

"A pilot is the best way to figure out the logistics of it all," Boring said. "It will help you see how many radios you need, for example, to make something like this work."

Pam Reeve, a former software executive tabbed by Menino to head the Wireless Task Force in charge of the initiative, said the project would not have come together this quickly without help.

"Building an actual neighborhood network so quickly would not have been possible without the support of these companies and Local 103," Reeve said in the press release.

The WiFi HotZones, or hot spots, will allow tourists, businesspeople and residents to access the internet in Quincy Market and the surrounding area thanks to technology and labor donated by SkyPilot, Galaxy Internet Services and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 103.

"The Boston Quincy Market HotZone is an excellent example of how communities can maintain their town's historic aesthetic while delivering the benefits of modern technology," SkyPilot spokeswoman Kristine Bennett said in an email.

Mike Monahan, business manager for IBEW Local 103, said the union was interested in the wireless initiative for a number of reasons.

"We see wireless Internet as an up-and-coming way for people to get their Internet service," Monahan said. "I expect a lot of communities to go in this direction, and if they are going to, we have to make sure we have people who are trained to do it.

"This is only the beginning," Monahan continued. "We hope to be there. If it's volunteer, we'll be there because of the kind of guy [the mayor] is, and if it turns out to be a paid job, we need to have people who can do an efficient and quality job."