Town explores offering WiFi

Framingham officials say they are ready to push forward with a plan to blanket the town with wireless Internet service, a proposal seen as a potential boon to law enforcement and a source of revenue.

But they are undecided on whether to build the network themselves or leave the work to private companies.

That decision is significant, said Bill Ennen , program director for the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative's Innovation Institute. The choice of business model can determine whether the town's effort to provide Internet access to town employees in the field and residents in their homes can be sustained or will be just a passing fad.

"The solution hinges on the business model," said Ennen, who is working with Framingham and more than a dozen other communities that are part of the institute's Municipal Broadband Working Group.

If Town Meeting approves initial funding next spring, estimated at about $1 million to cover the downtown area, Framingham will join a growing list of municipalities trying to offer wireless coverage.

"Framingham is clearly ahead of the curve," said Patrick Larkin , director of the institute, which has offices in Westborough. "It's new territory for any municipality."

Kathleen McCarthy , Framingham technology services director, last week briefed selectmen on a plan to provide Internet access for town employees in a 3-square-mile downtown area at a cost of about $1 million. It would cost a total of $2.7 million to $4 million to expand wireless service to the entire town, she said.

McCarthy said the primary goal of the proposal is to "extend municipal services out to the field." Police, fire, public works, and health inspection services personnel all could work away from the office more efficiently with laptops and wireless Internet access, she said.

Public works officials, for example, could access maps of the town's underground water and sewer pipes to more quickly fix a water main break.

All of the town's police cruisers have laptops, but their use is hampered by slow, low-bandwidth antennas.

"Our ability to access photographs and other information is limited," said Lieutenant Paul Shastany , Framingham police spokesman. "To eliminate radio traffic and to develop more thorough information, the WiFi is the perfect option for us."

McCarthy said officials also are looking into whether to use the system to provide Internet access for the public.

In Boston and other communities in the state, public access has been the primary motivator behind taking on the cost of a municipal wireless Internet network.

While no municipality has fully implemented universal wireless access, public access is available in large portions of Cambridge, thanks to technology from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Ennen said. Boston is piloting "hot spots" that provide access in a limited area to the public.

Ennen said Malden and Pepperell officials are implementing wireless networks with a focus on municipal services similar to the Framingham proposal.

"We're going to evaluate the possibility of being able to offer free or low-cost services to residents and visitors, but it will be something that we will add on after we do the municipal services piece," McCarthy said.

Larkin said some towns prefer to stick with creating wireless networks for city services because the smaller scale keeps costs down. Also, since city services are an essential role of the municipality, officials can more easily justify the cost.

Dennis L. Giombetti , chairman of the Framingham Board of Selectmen, said he would rather the town roll out Internet access for both town workers and the public simultaneously by selling licenses to private providers.

"There's no reason we couldn't bring in vendors" and raise revenue through license fees, as the town does with cable providers, he said. "I don't think we have to build it ourselves."

That is the model being followed in Boston and Brookline.

Giombetti said the town could position itself as a "technology leader" in the state and gain a competitive advantage in attracting small businesses.