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Charleston enters agreement to provide wireless Internet access
By Rachel Pleasant
Staff Writer
A contract between the city of Charleston and Mount Pleasant’s Widespread Access will not only create a peninsula-wide free Internet network, but will also open up cost-savings opportunities to area businesses.
The five-year contract between the city and Widespread Access should be drawn up by the end of September.
Widespread Access president Sam Staley said his company will have three to five months to install the network infrastructure.
“But we’re going to shoot to beat that by a long shot,” said Staley, adding that the network could be up and running by year’s end.
To create the wireless network, Widespread Access will be installing a series of antennas on cell phone towers.
The result will be unlimited free Internet access across the peninsula.
“Our network architecture is designed for ubiquitous coverage,” Staley said. “You should be able to see about 90% coverage in the outdoor areas and about 70% to 80% coverage in indoor areas.”
Widespread Access has partnered with Evening Post Publishing Co., which owns The Post and Courier, on the project.
“Evening Post is our media partner,” Staley said. “Part of our proprietary business model is having a media partner to help subsidize this network.”
Users of the network will be greeted with a “splash page” that will contain information provided by Evening Post, Staley said.
“It will be a portal to the city that will say ‘welcome to the network, and here’s who we are.’ It will also show news and events going on,” Staley said.
The splash page will also contain advertisements, generating revenue for Evening Post.
The peninsula’s wireless system will not be paid for by the city, Ernest Andrade, director of the Charleston Digital Corridor, told the Business Journal in August.
Rather the contracted companies will foot the bill for the system.
Staley said his company “with a partnership with the Evening Post” will spend about $500,000 to install the network.
To make the project a financially viable one for Evening Post and Widespread Access, Staley said, a business model was developed.
Under that model, Evening Post will sell advertising. Widespread Access, meanwhile, hopes to sell faster Internet connections to homes and businesses using the network.
Free users on the network will connect at a speed of 250 kilobits per second, a speed that is fine for sending e-mail or doing general Internet surfing.
If users want to download MP3 files or view streaming video, however, they would likely be interested in a faster connection.
Widespread Access can offer speeds up to three megabits per second for individuals and businesses using the network infrastructure and technology, Staley said.
Paid connections would cost between $30 and $45 per month.
Businesses may also be interested to know of another option the peninsula network will open up.
Widespread Access will be able to offer wireless T1 service for a good deal, Staley said.
T1, an internet connection considered “business class” because of the service agreements it comes with, will be available using the network for between 50% and 60% less than what customers typically pay for that service.
“You can imagine the cost involved with burying cable. We don’t have to have a physical connection, so the cost is a lot lower,” he said.
The city put out a request for proposals on the wireless system June 8. Two companies submitted bids by the June 28 deadline.
The other company was Charleston’s Aerolina.
Rachel Pleasant is a staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail her at rpleasant@charlestonbusiness.com.
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