City of Dayton News Release
sent to the Media on April 11, 2005:
No-Cost WiFi Network Available Downtown Access Ready
for Dragon's Home
Opener
Release Date: Monday, April 11, 2005
Contact: Bill Hill, Director of ITS
HarborLink, 294-2954
The City of Dayton's pilot, no-cost WiFi network is
mostly completed for its initial target area - downtown
Dayton.
In November 2004, the City of Dayton entered into an
agreement with HarborLink (which is working with P&R
Communication and DONet) to offer the "HotCity"
system whereby residents and visitors in open spaces
could access the Internet from their portable computers
and related devices at no cost. Dayton became the first
city nationally
to offer a public-private partnership WiFi model that
is not funded by taxpayers and comes at no charge to
the end user.
At this point, the WiFi meshed architecture covers
an approximate one square-mile area of downtown, which
includes the Oregon Business District, RiverScape, Fifth
Third Field, Webster Station, and Tech Town areas. The
area around Fifth Third Field, home of the Dayton Dragons,
is ready for opening day on Tuesday!
The WiFi infrastructure is located within the City's
public rights of way and on specific City-owned facilities.
Within this test area, people will be able to access
the Internet at no cost on streets, sidewalks and greenspaces.
"The system is still considered to be in 'test'
mode, and we believe that the installation of the remaining
'access point' devices will be completed by opening
day of the Wireless Dayton Days event planned for later
this month," Bill Hill, Dayton's Information and
Technology
Services Director, said.
Wireless Dayton Days is an event being sponsored by
Dayton Microcomputer Association, Inc. to demonstrate
the new Wireless Downtown Dayton Network. The free event
takes place April 29 and 30 in Building 12 at Sinclair
Community College.
The Wireless Dayton Days event will further introduce
computer and Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) wireless-enabled
users, or those wanting information about wireless networks,
to the free downtown network. For more information about
the event, visit
www.wirelessdaytondays.org.
The City of Dayton will now be evaluating the use and
success of the downtown WiFi pilot project. If the City
decides to expand the service citywide, "Requests
for Proposals" (RFP) will be solicited from interested
vendors later this year.
During the testing phase, users should refer comments
or questions to HarborLink at 294-2954, (fax) 294-8643,
or e-mail to info (at) harborlink.net.
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