Suffolk Considers County-wide Wi-fi

Suffolk County, in New York, is considering installing a free wireless network that would fully cover the county’s 900 square miles, offering Internet access to 1.5 million residents. If built, the network would be one of the largest in the nation, though officials in Chicago are considering an even larger network, 940 square miles, that would cover 5 million people. Suffolk County includes considerable waterfront, and county officials are considering having the network extend over the water as well. Steve Levy, Suffolk County Executive, proposed the idea, saying that a private firm would be contracted to develop and maintain the network. Funding would come from advertising or from fees charged for higher connection speeds. Because the project would be sponsored by the county government, the proposed network has further fueled the debate over whether governments should be involved in such projects at all or if they should be taken up by commercial vendors.

New York Times, 28 April 2006 (registration req’d)