City Wi-Fi Networks Can Be Successful When City Focus Is Kept in Mind

Oklahoma City's recently unveiled Wi-Fi network is considered a success, despite the failure of city Wi-Fi systems elsewhere. What makes Oklahoma's system different? According to a June 4th Associated Press story, rather than being created for the purpose of providing free internet to residences. Oklahoma's network was created solely for city government business purposes.

The network's focus is public safety. The $5 million system was paid for with public safety sales tax and city capital improvement funds. The network is the world's largest city-owned and-operated Wi-Fi network and covers 555 square miles through 1,200 routers across the city. These routers are structured as a mesh so that, if one goes out, another can take its place. The system is being used by city public safety personnel in the field for such purposes as accessing detailed topography maps or viewing building floor plans and other data quickly from city databases. Many other uses for the system are in the works.