Beginning late 2007, anyone with a computer, laptop, or PDA will be able to travel anywhere in Oakland County and be able to access the internet ? for free.
Scott Oppmann, Manager of Application Services for Oakland County, made a presentation on the initiative, called Wireless Oakland, at the Sept. 18 Addison Township Board Meeting.
Wireless Oakland was first announced at the 2005 State of the County Address by County Executive L. Brooks Patterson.
Wireless internet means a computer would not have to plug into anything in order to connect to the information super highway.
Oppmann outlined the three goals of the program as being to ‘blanket? the county with wireless internet service, with a portion of bandwidth free to every person; addressing the ‘digital divide? by providing low or no-cost PCs and technology training to vulnerable population groups; and to develop a Telecommunication and Technology Planning Toolkit for local governments.
Oppmann said the county is currently working on the first goal of providing wireless internet by creating an interlocal agreement between the 62 municipalities and Oakland County. So far, 50 have signed on.
‘The private provider we selected through a competitive bid process, Michtel Communications out of Pontiac, actually will own and operate the network,? Oppmann said. ‘The county is not writing a check to anyone.?
After a local government agrees to the interlocal agreement, Oppmann said the county will begin to set up internet access points, which he described as white boxes the size of a book that can be afixed to a traffic light or utility pole. The number of access points each community will receive will be based on population density.
As of now, the internet connection speed will be four to five times the speed of dial-up. Oppmann Michtel will offer higher level service plans to residents who wish to upgrade, but those rates will not be announced until a later date.
Although Wireless Oakland will provide internet access at anyone’s home or workplace, trustee Christine Sypitkowski was concerned with the quality of service Addison Twp. would receive due to it’s rural location, but Oppmann assured her it wouldn’t be a problem.
‘We expect to see a new type of technology the first quarter of next year that will make those issues, like foliage and water that absorbs the signal, go away,? he said.
In Oxford, Starbucks Coffee, at 51 S. Washington St., offers wireless internet service in their cafe area. Customers can sip on a cup of joe while perusing the World Wide Web on their laptop.
The Oxford Village Counil voted in August to enter into the interlocal agreement.
Oakland County chose seven ‘pilot areas,? including Troy, Pontiac, Wixom, Birmingham, Oak Park, Madison Heights and Royal Oak, to begin the wireless initiative. So far, Oppmann said the Pontiac and Wixom sites are up and running smoothly.
At their meeting, the Addison Twp. board decided to table voting on entering into the interlocal agreement until thier Oct. 16 meeting after trustee Claudia VonDrak suggested taking some board members to visit the Wixom pilot to get an idea of how it’s run.