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HarborLink Network News & Events
February 28, 2007
Going to downtown? Beginning
in May, don't forget your
laptop
HarborLink to install a
wireless Internet network
that will be available for
free.
By Samantha Sommer
Staff Writer
Springfield News Sun
For cities, WiFi likely will
become an amenity similar to
sewers and water.
Springfield
city commissioners heard an
update Tuesday night on a
plan to bring it to
downtown.
"We want to be ahead of the
times and not be in a
technological Stone Age and
prepare everybody for the
future," Commissioner Dan
Martin said.
HarborLink will install the
advertising-driven wireless
Internet network, which
should be operational in
May.
It will offer free, wireless
access outdoors downtown. It
isn't intended to replace
Internet service providers
for businesses or residents.
Dayton
has a similar network. Users
access it on many devices,
such as laptops, handheld
organizers and video game
consoles.
"It's used for just about
everything," said Rick
Tangeman, HarborLink
president.
The network will cover the
city core block and Clark
State Community College's
downtown center. It will
extend north along Fountain
Avenue to Wittenberg
University.
If the one-year pilot
program proves successful,
the network could be
expanded south to Clark
State's Leffel Lane campus,
said Nancy Bridgman of
Neighborhood Housing
Partnership.
That will improve access in
some south end
neighborhoods, including
Springfield Metropolitan
Housing Authority housing,
she said.
"People who don't have
access to the Internet will
be left behind," Bridgman
said.
Future expansions could
include all city schools,
Nextedge technology park and
the planned downtown
hospital, she said.
The project partners are the
city, HarborLink,
Wittenberg, Clark State,
AVeTEC, NHP, Turner
Foundation, CFA Networks,
city schools, Center City
Association and Community
Mercy Health Partners.
That partnership is unusual,
Tangeman said.
"Springfield has been very
proactive in bringing the
community together," he
said.
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