Ex-Lightbridge chief to lead WiFi push

Boston's plan to create a citywide wireless Internet network entered a new phase yesterday as Mayor Thomas M. Menino named former high-tech executive Pamela Reeve to lead the search for a non profit corporation to build the network.

Reeve, a member of the mayor's Wireless Task Force and a former chief executive of software company Lightbridge Inc., also will talk to businesses, foundations, universities, and hospitals in an effort to raise between $16 million and $20 million for the project.

The money would be used to blanket city neighborhoods with fiber-optic cable and radio transmitters that would beam WiFi signals, enabling laptops, handheld computers, cell phones, and other portable devices to connect to the Internet at high speeds anywhere in the city.

Menino, at a City Hall press conference, said the city has not yet identified the non profit that will build, own, and operate the system. That organization, whether an existing foundation or a newly created one, won't offer Internet access itself but will allow multiple Internet service providers to offer access by piggybacking on the network.

The mayor held out the possibility that the city might provide some unspecified funding for the WiFi network, but said the bulk of the funding is expected to come from businesses and private sources. ``This is an investment in the future of the city and its people," Menino said.

The two leading companies that currently sell Internet access to Boston homes and businesses -- Comcast Corp. and Verizon Communications Inc. -- declined to comment on the wireless plan yesterday, saying they'd yet to fully digest the task force's report.

Richard Ramlall , senior vice president for strategic and external affairs for RCN Corp., a third Internet carrier operating in Boston, said the city's WiFi plan ``may create positive opportunities for both us as a business and the neighborhoods we serve."

He added, ``Of course, we would be concerned if the government were to use tax dollars and public facilities to subsidize a commercial enterprise that competes with private businesses that serve private residences and offices, but certainly at this point we have no reason to think that is contemplated by the city's proposal."

Reeve, in an interview, said she would begin screening non profit candidates for the WiFi project immediately. While she has yet to ask businesses for funding commitments, Reeve said she is confident she can meet the fund-raising target through contributions and in-kind services such as donated equipment like chips or servers. She noted that Boston raised $35 million earlier in the decade to wire the city's schools for Internet connections. ``It seems like a daunting task in many ways," Reeve said. ``But I think it's absolutely do-able."

City Councilor John M. Tobin , an early advocate of universal wireless access, characterized the mayor's wireless plan as ``bold" but said he worries about its implementation. ``My major concern is the raising of funds," he said. ``There's a lot of people out there trying to raise money, for gun buyback programs, for summer jobs. We need to be out there telling people why this is so important for the city."

Menino yesterday also introduced the city's incoming chief information officer, Bill Oates , who will begin his job today . Oates will work closely with the WiFi non profit, identifying city assets such as lights and telephone poles for the radio transmitters and developing a plan to use the network to extend city services.

Robert Weisman can be reached at weisman@globe.com.