Wireless Philadelphia Report

Introduction

By Chrissy Porretta

The Internet has become something that has changed our everyday lives. It has allowed millions of people access to information, the ability to communicate, and an easy way to work and do business all at the touch of a button. If that wasn't good enough-technology is now allowing us to take this great innovation outside the home or office and into the street with the development of wireless Internet. One of the many cities that are developing programs for this wireless Internet is Philadelphia.

Wireless Internet will benefit the city of Philadelphia in many ways. It will provide affordable access to high-speed telecommunications to small and disadvantaged businesses, it will aid in teacher, student and parent communication as well as benefit students on college campuses. Wireless Internet will also benefit the city of Philadelphia's businesses, enhance the visitor experience, and give something to the people who live and work in Philadelphia.

Wireless internet can be deployed in Philadelphia for $40,000 to $60,000 per square mile and the entire city can be connected for $7 to $10 million. It has been suggested that funding should come through a public and private partnership that could be funded through industry donations and sponsorships.

The development of wireless Internet is in the beginning stages in Philadelphia. The goal of this program is to provide wireless Internet throughout the entire city. As of right now, there are about five locations, known as "hot spots," where wireless Internet is available. Although wireless internet is starting out small, there is no doubt the city of Philadelphia is in store for big things that are yet to come.

From Mayfair to North Philadelphia, Neff Has It Covered

By Patrick Gordon

When the city of Philadelphia unveiled a plan to transform its streets and neighborhoods into a gigantic wireless Internet hotspot in early April, Meghan Bair was excited.

“The fact that I can be comfortable outside and get some work done is a definite plus,” Bair said of the Wi-Fi proposal. “It will be cheaper than using America Online and I can have my phone outside on the step with me and have it not be busy and if I want to move around outside I’ll have the ability to do so. Things will just be so much easier.”

Bair, 22, is a recent Temple University graduate and lives in the Mayfair section of the city, an area populated mostly by the middle class.

“People will be able to check their e-mail from anywhere while sitting on the steps and talking with neighbors and things like that,” said Bair. “It’s definitely not a necessity, but instead, I guess you can call it a nicety,” she said with a smile.

But in poor communities, like Kensington and Northern Philadelphia, where most residents lack the resources to utilize wireless Internet, residents are not smiling.

The perks of the Wireless Philadelphia initiative may simply be another technology advancement, like satellite radio and MP3 players, that only a select few can even afford.

“Middle-income folks pay their bills in their pajamas online at 6 o'clock in the morning. That same level of access should be provided to low-income people," Stephen Rockwell, director of technology outreach for the United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania, said in a statement.

According to recent statistical analysis, an estimated 60 percent of Philadelphia residents currently lack high-speed, broadband Internet access. In places such as North Philadelphia, the numbers are even higher.

Recent statistics released by the U.S. Department of Commerce also show that families earning more than $75,000 a year are nine times more likely to own a computer and upwards of 20 times more likely to have Internet access when compared to families with an income below the poverty level.

But Dianah Neff, the city of Philadelphia's chief information official, doesn’t see the lack of community resources as a hurdle for Wireless Philadelphia.

“One of the reasons we are working with non-profits is to identify the needs in our communities and to find out how it is best to reach out,” said Neff. “For example we worked with the People’s Emergency Center in West Philadelphia, and they help mothers with children that are homeless transition into housing and to obtain skills to be able to provide for their families.

“We are also working in our Hispanic neighborhoods with this initiative and they wanted a bilingual portal to help those who speak English as a second language to get health information and speak to people in Spanish about their needs,” said Neff.

Neff, who before coming to Philadelphia spent nearly 14 years working for a hardware firm in Silicon Valley, the high-tech computer den in California, is at the helm of the Wireless Philadelphia project.

The goal of the project is to create a citywide, 135-square-mile digital infrastructure to help citizens, business, schools and community organizations make effective use of wireless technology. The program is projected to begin by fall of 2006.

Neff, who has been handling implementation of organization-wide strategic information planning for nearly two-decades, believes the Wireless Philadelphia initiative will help bridge the so-called “digital divide” between the lower- and upper-economic classes.

The objective is essentially to allow citizens of neighborhoods like Kensington and North Philadelphia to have the same opportunities as Meghan Bair and those in predominantly middle- and upper-class neighborhoods like Mayfair, Bustelton and Fox Chase within the next five years.

“The goal of Wireless Philadelphia as a non-profit is to bring an Internet connection, which is now about 58 percent across the city, to around 80 percent in five years,” said Neff. “We also want to place computers into our schools and disadvantaged households and we believe most of the 22 percent increase in growth will come from our digital divide families.”

Last summer the city, with the assistance of several Internet Service Providers, transformed areas such as LOVE Park, the Convention Center and the Reading Terminal into wireless hotspots.

According to Neff, the projected cost to Philadelphia residents for usage of the wireless network will be less than the $23.90 a month charged by AOL to dialup-users.

The city also plans to charge visitors and vacationers a $15 weekly log-on fee to use the service.

Other large cities with similar wireless initiatives, such as Los Angeles, Atlanta and Cleveland, have already begun to construct and implement a Wi-Fi service, while smaller cities, such as Corpus Christi, Texas, and Chaska, Minn., already have a Wi-Fi service in place.

And the early feedback of the service in other cities has been nothing short of positive.

The service in Corpus Christi has been extremely successful because it not only gave citizens wireless capabilities, but has also helped city-owned water and gas utilities, public works departments and public safety agencies by acquiring automated gas and water meter reading capabilities.

“We saw an exciting opportunity to simultaneously increase our customer service standards while reducing operating costs,”George Noe, Corpus Christi’s city manager, said in a statement released coinciding with the 2004 Wi-Fi Summit in Corpus Christi. “The system is very quick and easy to deploy, and allows us to implement a plethora of communications tools across many city departments. I think we’ve only scratched the surface of the applications that this system will enable.”

However, Corpus Christi is only one city that Neff and her associates have studied in regard to implementation of Wireless Philadelphia.

“We went out and looked at about 125 different wireless Internet implementations from around the world, not just the United States,” said Neff. “But every community needs to go out and conduct their own stakeholder analysis and see what is needed in their community and what is working in their community.

“So as part of our overall business plan, we looked at what we thought were the best practices and the best business models and we selected a hybrid model that we believe takes the best of each and meets the needs of Philadelphia. We listened to our communities, compared to what other cities were doing and selected what would be best for Philadelphia.”

Wireless Philadelphia Projects: Expansive Benefits at Limited Cost

By Chuck McCann

Wireless Philadelphia, a plan to cover 135 square miles of Philadelphia with broadband internet access will be the largest wireless network in the world. It is slated to begin operation by fall 2006 when it will be available to tourists, government employees, citizens and businesses that fall with within its range. Along with creating the network, the city has plans to offer equipment and training to the disadvantaged citizens of Philadelphia who otherwise could not afford internet access.

“The Internet connection rate in Philadelphia now stands at about 58 percent. We want to bring that up to 80 percent in five years and we believe a lot of that 22 percent growth increase will come from our digital divide families,” says Dianah Neff, the mayor’s chief information officer.

Neff estimates that if penetration reaches 22 percent of city residents by its fourth year, Wireless Philadelphia will pay for itself and could have money left over to fund more programs.

To fund the project without government money, the city has set up a non-profit organization that will use non-taxable bonds and foundation grants to raise the initial $10 million to build the infrastructure. Though city officials cannot comment on who will provide the bonds, Neff said Staples and Intel will help provide equipment and training to disadvantaged citizens.

To pay for maintenance, upgrades and other services the city wishes to provide, the program will use wholesaler fees gained from selling access to the network to various Internet service providers (ISPs). Though it is estimated that Wireless Philadelphia will cost $2.5 million a year to maintain, Neff expects the program to more than pay for itself after four years.

Complaints from the private sector about government interference almost grounded the project, but last November Gov. Ed Rendell signed House Bill 30, which struck a compromise with companies such as Verizon and Comcast that otherwise might develop a wireless network of their own. House Bill 30, while reserving the right for private companies to build their own wireless networks throughout Pennsylvania, gives the city one year to set up a viable broadband infrastructure for the city before the private sector can build one of its own.

Though Verizon will not create Philadelphia’s wireless network, it will still play a key role in connecting residents and businesses with broadband internet access as it will probably be one of the ISPs buying bulk access of the network.

“We see an opportunity to both expand services, which will bring in new revenue and simultaneously benefit the citizen’s of Philadelphia who would otherwise not have reliable internet access,” Verizon spokeswoman Sharon Shaffer said in a recent radio interview. Initial estimates predict the city will sell access rights to the network for $9 per month per subscriber, and that the ISPs will in turn charge $16 to $20 per month to provide access and service to disadvantaged citizens with lower rates for those who cannot afford it.

Though the money subscribers pay is tied into the money that goes back into the non-profit organization, Neff insisted that if subscriber rates are lower than projected, the equipment and services will not suffer as money can be diverted from maintenance and upgrades to continue those services.

While much of the plan focuses on disadvantaged citizens, the broadband network will also be available to tourists, government employees, small businesses and those willing to pay more for premium services. The business plan projects that 29 percent of those who already have broadband access will switch for price and that 55-75 percent of those with dial-up connections will switch to the wireless network.

The city reached its business model by first setting up a stakeholders' analysis, which employed the help of Philadelphia universities Temple, Drexel, and LaSalle in determining what people wanted from a wireless network and what the city's needs were.

“We ran focus groups, technology analyses and looked at what other cities were doing. In the end, we believed our hybrid model (combining a nonprofit organization with wholesaling power) was the best solution,” said Munir Mandviwalla, chair of management information systems at Temple University.

Detractors of Wireless Philadelphia business model believe that the government is overstepping its bounds and disturbing free enterprise. Mandviwalla does not feel that is the case.

“The problem is that private industry has ignored the urban market. People should remember that private industry did not create the internet, the government did.”

Mandviwalla stressed that the only goal of the stakeholders' analysis was to come up with the best business plan to make the program a success and that he did not witness any political pressure or bias.

While it is possible that the plan may fail, Mandviwalla said he believes it is much too soon to judge, since a wireless network has never operated on this kind of scale before.

Neff cited the scale of the project as being the biggest challenge.

“While other cities are implementing wireless networks, none of them are the size of Philadelphia. A lot of people are waiting to follow Philadelphia’s footsteps. I think we’ve done the most formal process by using the stakeholder analysis and the business plan.”

Construction of a Wireless Ethernet (otherwise known as IEEE 802.11b) is scheduled to start by September of this year. It is an unlicensed spectrum on which mobile, wireless Internet access can me made available.

To get the word out about the city’s plan, Neff plans an aggressive marketing campaign to raise awareness. The plans include co-marketing with the ISPs that will provide the service, as well as print and radio ads within the city. The nonprofit will look into determining who has the most need for its services to the disadvantaged.

The city has set a goal for 13 percent of residences to be on the wireless Internet after one year, and 22 percent by the fifth year. City officials claimed this would provide for the $2.5 million for annual upkeep of the network with money left over to put back into providing services and equipment for those who can not afford access.

“The city is singularly obsessed with bringing the benefits of true, affordable broadband data communications anywhere, anytime, to anyone that needs it,” the Wireless Philadelphia mission statement said.

Temple University Network Experts:

Wireless City Goal 'Lofty, but Attainable'

By Joe Redding

After initial plan proposals for the implementation of Wireless Internet Access throughout the entire city of Philadelphia were offered to the public by Mayor John Street's office, volleys of criticism and support were leveled from both supporters and opposition to the plans.

In a February letter to the public posted on CNET.com’s tech news Web site, Philadelphia City Councilman Frank Rizzor expressed strong opposition to the implementation of city-wide wireless Internet access Citing a low-balled price tag at the lowest, Rizzo compared the initiative to the now infamous “Big Dig” project, which began in Boston more than 10 years ago.

“The Big Dig” is known to most as one of the most ambitious and costly civil engineer and public works projects in the history of the United States. In essence, the project, which worked to reroute congested traffic routes throughout downtown Boston, compiled a budget of over $14 billion and has taken more than a decade with no end in sight for construction.

“Today, many city administrators seem similarly romanced by the apparent luster of municipal wireless or Wi-Fi networks.” Rizzo said.

“To be sure, these local city government officials, like those in the case of Boston's Big Dig, are well intentioned. They argue, in essence, that new advances in wireless technology enable municipal governments to construct low-cost Wi-Fi "hot spots" enabling those with expensive laptops to get wireless broadband signals in a radius of 300 feet from a municipal router. Admirably, they see themselves as pioneers, building the bridge over the digital divide.”

While citing the benefits of the implementation of a universal access to broadband Internet to all American households by the year 2007, Rizzo pointed to the initial figures quoted by the city’s Dianah Neff as a statement of the lowest possible cost for the project, hinting that the total cost of the initiative could be greater.

“When we hear that a municipal network will cost the city of Philadelphia $11 million, it's important for our taxpayers to know that we are speaking about the most rudimentary, basic network.” Rizzo said.

“Ms. Neff has been mum about the architecture and underlying assumptions that make up the $11 million price tag, but nevertheless critical of those questioning the seemingly low price on the grounds that they haven't seen the details.”

When asked about the city’s possible wireless internet plans, Temple University computer experts had mixed reactions.

“We agree it's going to be a huge project.” said Adam Ferraro, Temple’s director of network services.

“There are a few different pieces. One of the fundamentals is just getting the access points out there so you have enough coverage area to get what you want and a lot of this is part of the initial plan is you want to figure out what exactly you’re planning on covering and how well you intend to cover it, if you want to cover every building inside and out, every subway, and that’s a lot more substantial than just covering the sidewalks on every street.”

Temple University, according to Assistant Director of Networking Services Dave Lowe is currently close to complete wireless accessibility.

“We have provided wireless within our campus, and today you can go around and pretty much walk almost from end to end on campus and have a wireless signal. To do the whole city, is kind of a high, lofty goal but I definitely think with a good plan in place it can be implemented and successful.” Lowe said.

“There’s a lot involved, we’ve aided and had assistance from Verizon, and they’ve done a wireless survey which is one of the most time consuming pieces of a wireless project to determine where to put these access points to get the optimum coverage. The cost involved, depends on the survey and what it determines. We have spent quite a bit of money on the infrastructure, o we have taken a lot of steps to make Temple one of the leaders in technology.”

The city, according to Ferrero must face security concerns, also a concern of Rizzo’s, as well as other opponents of the initiative. “There are lots of security concerns around wireless just because it’s not on a wire in the wall; it’s sprayed out over the air throughout the

neighborhood. There are lots of technical things that can be done to implement security, encryption, like when you go to Web sites you want to make sure going to where it’s secure and encrypted, and, by and large, all the places that are in business and everybody does that. That’s the easy stuff,” Ferrero said.

“The other things like e-mail, often are not encrypted, so people who go across the wireless network, someone in the are could potentially, depending on how things are set up, see that traffic and this is just in the geographic area across the street, so there are ramifications from that.”

According to Ferrero, one benefit of the vity’s plans is the so-called “Wireless Mesh” technology it plans to use to implement the access.

“All you need to get is power to these devices, so you put one of these access point type devices with an Internet connection that will cover the local area and it also has line of sight to another one that you put in place.” Ferrero said.

“All you have to do (with wireless mesh) is put that with a power connection on it, and make sure there’s line of sight to the first box, so it makes it easier to distribute and it carries on, and the network knows how to get back to the one wired connection or multiple wired connections. It reduces the cost and adds to the resiliency of the thing and probably makes it easier to deploy.”

And although Councilman Rizzo disagrees with the cost of the project, Ferrero feels the technology would benefit the city’s plans. “It’s the best approach for their needs, and it’s the one that’s most practical for them to implement.” With votes to be brought to the Council, as well as more detailed plans to be put into action, it remains to be seen whether Rizzo’s strong opposition to the project’s costs and impact on the city’s economy published proves to be an important projection for a public works disaster similar to that of “The Big Dig” in Boston.

Educational, Community Outreach Aspect of Wireless Philadelphia Citywide Broadband Internet Access Program

By Cindey Barett-Sells

Having access to the Internet for West Philadelphia resident Tanya Outland proved to be literally a matter of life or death.

The single mother was one of 50 households participating in the first-ever pilot Internet access program sponsored by the Peoples Emergency Center (PEC.Cares) Digital Inclusion and the city's wirelessprogram two years ago, said Omar Brown, Broadband inclusion specialist at PEC.Cares.

PEC.Cares is one of six community service agencies that have partnered with Wireless Philadelphia to structure and implement the educational aspect of the city-wide broadband service.

When Outland’s daughter unexpectedly became ill her, mother through PEC.Cares Digital Inclusion program was able to do an extensive online medical search via Wireless Philadelphia.

As a result of the computer training she received at PEC.Cares, the little girl's mother was successful in locating a medical specialist to evaluate her sick child, said Brown.

“They discovered that the little girl had kidney problems… and needed a kidney transplant,” said Brown.

“Because she had access to the Internet, the child’s mother found a kidney donor for her daughter online,” said Brown, adding that the little girl is alive and healthy today.

Although Outland’s experience is extraordinary, many families included in the PEC.Cares digital inclusion pilot have achieved successful outcomes. Internet access has provided them with employment and training opportunities that before Wireless Philadelphia would have not been available to them.

“Wireless Philadelphia is going to eliminate the digital divide… everyone will have access to this technology, regardless of their economic status,” said Brown

When Wireless Philadelphia becomes available city wide, households will not require a laptop computer to access the Internet and can use a traditional PC. According to Brown, residents will have wireless access through a broadband signal that reaches homes.

PEC.Cares, a non-profit agency that in addition other social services now offers residents comprehensive computer training, workshops exploring employment opportunities via the Internet and precise instruction in navigating the World Wide Web.

Those households wishing to access the Internet via Wireless Philadelphia will first have to purchase a broadband access card for $40. Partner agencies such as PEC.Cares sell refurbished computers to residents for about $120, said Brown, adding for those who cannot afford to pay the total amount, a payment plan can be arranged.

The School District, the City of Philadelphia and partner agencies throughout the city will collectively reach out into under-served communities and challenge the level of distrust and technological segregation through outreach, training and practical resources.

Many close to the pulse of Wireless Philadelphia maintain that this type of technology can only help boost the economic capacity of many impoverished residents.

“Partner community service agencies have already achieved unprecedented success in trial and pilot efforts,” said Verrana Robinson, the program director for Wireless Philadelphia.

Robinson, hand picked by Mayor John Street, was transplanted in September from Montgomery County because of her feisty no-nonsense personality and extensive field knowledge of community based telecom and wireless network technologies.

“This component of Wireless Philadelphia is part of the mayor’s commitment to neighborhood transformation. One of our goals is to make this technology available to people at all income levels,” said Robinson.

Community service agencies such as the Girard Avenue Coalition, Kenny Gamble and the Norris Square Project are partnered with adding funding for these endeavors came through grants and private citizen donations.

The pilot programs focused on 50 households within a square-mile radius from each of the respective agencies' front doors, said Robinson.

“Wireless Philly’s non-profit status will make it easier for those wishing to donate computers… for many it will be a welcome tax advantage,” said Robinson, adding, Internet customer service will be handled by the soon to be chosen Internet Service Providers (ISPs).

Jay Cohen, program manager for the Computer Refurbishing Program Equipment and Distribution and Warehousing Technology-In-The-Home Initiative, at the Philadelphia School District has been burning the midnight oil refurbishing donated computers earmarked for partner agencies and slated school district Wireless Philadelphia community outreach programs.

“The great thing is we’ll be able to get computers to families who could never afford them before. The plan was to have partner community agencies incorporate a method of computer allocation within their agencies individualized outreach Wireless Philadelphia programs,”said Cohen.

“I’m excited at the prospect of our programs being fully implemented in the Fall of 2005… access to the Internet through Wireless Philadelphia will open the channel of communication between parents, teachers and students,” said Cohen.

Since both the school district and Wireless Philadelphia are nonprofit entities, Cohen added that local corporations, as well as private persons, may donate used computer equipment.

The School District has also come up with an ingenious way to assist families in obtaining home computers. The district launched a “kids and parents” workshop. Students and family members are given a donated computer to refurbish during the day-long workshop. Armed with Cohen’s step-by-step instructions, they refurbish a donated computer—all by themselves. At the end of the refurbishing and training session, the individuals get to take home the computer, said Cohen.

Once logged in at the warehouse, the gently used computesr are put through rigorous testing to determine if they're in good operating condition and then refurbished to standards. Computers passing Cohen’s inspection will be licensed and christened with the official School District seal of approval.

“A shipment of 150 computers just came in to the warehouse from a local company who was upgrading their employees PCs," Cohen said. "They donated the old ones to us.”

Paula Don, coordinator of community outreach for the Philadelphia School District has her finger on the pulse of broadband wireless access’s potential to transform the academic progress of many of the district’s most vulnerable students.

Don echoed Cohen’s enthusiasm over the imminent city-wide Internet access via Wireless Philadelphia for students and their families.

“Once we put computers in the home parents are thrilled…now they can access their school child’s student records and can also link to needed educational resources,” said Don.

The Philadelphia School District will embark on its first pilot program scheduled to begin on May 2. One hundred families from two schools within the district will have free access to the Web and district interactive programs via Wireless Philadelphia, said Don.

The pilot families can participate in technology-related workshops to sharpen their computer skills, she said.

Don confessed the School District hasn’t officially made the announcement that the pilot school’s participants will have free access to the Internet via Wireless Philadelphia. The cumulative results when compiled will serve as a prototype of sorts for 2005-2006 school year.

“We think of this as extending the learning into the home…participation will not be mandatory…those who are interested may do so…it is their choice,” said Don on the upcoming city-wide Wireless Philadelphia campaign.

Many believe that Wireless Philadelphia has the long-term potential to transform the School District's lagging test scores by providing parental access to schoolteachers and by offering interactive tutoring that can be accessed by student and parents online.

This city-wide effort to educate all students in emerging technologies has some whistling happy days are here again.

Wireless Philadelphia has the potential to give previously under-served populations a leg up over the digital divide and start to even the economic opportunity playing field.

Robinson hinted that this type of technology could catapult Philadelphia to the cutting edge of telecom technology.