Make public Wi-Fi a reality for Richmonders

Shane Wade
Opinion Editor

Tired of paying for Internet service? Want to access your e-mail, social network or bank account anywhere you go in the city?

Then look to citywide WiFi.

Although a Washington Post story that recently reported on the Federal Commerce Commission’s (FCC) planned proposal for free public WiFi services may have exaggerated how ready the FCC was to begin building super WiFi networks, it did serve as a catalyst for exploring its merits.

Despite budget cuts and an anti-spending political environment, local governments should still be looking forward to the best ways they can provide for and serve their constituents.

At a time when Saturday postal deliveries are being cut, the idea of setting up a citywide WiFi service sounds ludicrous. But cutting edge ideas usually are: It’s time we explore the option and encourage local municipalities to offer their own WiFi services to constituents.

Whether free or low-cost, through the nature of free market capitalism, it’ll force private providers to offer customers more competitive services or Internet access packets. If governments charge for the service, they’ll be able to make a small profit and allow the service to be cost-neutral.

For our city, it’s unknown how much a comparable plan would cost because no officials have made strides to analyze the cost of the service’s maintenance or the construction of transmittance infrastructure.

But other city models do exist.

When Minneapolis, Minn. implemented their own citywide WiFi service, they had some problems, both with the provider and the service. City departments didn’t use it or properly allocate money for it, and concerns about the rate model and the physical size of the coverage area (59 square miles, which is about the same size as Richmond) made the service manageable, but a drain on the city.

But other cities, including Riverside, Calif. used Minneapolis for a model for their own success, refitting other public services, including police and fire departments, maintenance crews and garbage collectors, to use the WiFi service to improve and track their performance and travel efficiency.

We could do the same.

According to their official website, the Richmond Department of Public Utilities manages five utilities: natural gas, water, wastewater, stormwater and electric street lighting. They serve upwards of half a million residential and commercial customers, both within city limits and in the surrounding metropolitan area.

Why not add managing and maintaining Internet access/service to those responsibilities? Why shouldn’t the city reach into the future, be a benevolent force and provide residents with a utility service that’s becoming so commonplace in our society that cafes, airports and libraries offer it?

Several countries, including Costa Rica, Estonia, Greece, Spain, Finland and France, have implemented laws guaranteeing Internet access, whether free or reasonably-priced, to residents.

These aren’t exactly the most financially-stable countries either.

If the act of governments censoring images, videos or documents on the Internet or downright banning access to certain websites qualifies as a violation of freedom of expression, then doesn’t a government, federal or local, have some responsibility to be proactive in providing that service to constituents?

If any plan for citywide WiFi is to make strides, a consensual ‘yes’ must follow that question.

Even taking into account problems with slow connectivity and security risks, exploring and seizing this opportunity would greatly benefit low-income families, college students and even tourists.

The Internet is such a vast arena of opportunity that its value cannot be measured, quantified or denied. But what we do know is that it’s a major benefit for people, especially in an age where more and more jobs require that employees be capable of performing tasks using the Internet or require employees to be versed in computer sciences.
This is a chance to make our government work. It’s a chance for Richmond to be proactive and progressive. We don’t need the FCC to give us the go-ahead or for Congress to pass legislation declaring it a mandate. Citywide public WiFi, given time, will become a mainstay in American municipalities.

It would be incredible for a city with our rocky history and our lack of noteworthiness to be among one of the few cities in America to successfully implement public WiFi in a manner that benefits the public-at-large and improves the effectiveness of city employees.

While it wouldn’t be a revolutionary move, it would be act as a stepping stone for future city projects.