What Happened to Wireless Internet for Downtown St. Louis?
In 2003 St. Louis made national news when it announced it would be making all of downtown a free wi-fi zone. Everyone, myself included, as all a buzz about what this might mean. From a July 2003 AP story:
ST. LOUIS (AP) — The city of St. Louis is setting up what could be the nation’s largest, free, wireless Internet network in hopes of drawing techno-savvy businesses, tourists and residents to the downtown business district.
The city has teamed up with a local company, O2Connect, to offer the service in a 42-square-block area.On Wednesday, a city crew mounted and activated the first of six antennae that will transmit an invisible, high-frequency radio signal that can be used to get online. The rest should be in place by month’s end.
“It’s symbolic that we’re really up-to-date downtown,” said Jim Cloar, president and chief executive of the Downtown St. Louis Partnership, a nonprofit group that promotes economic development and urban living.
“And it gives us one more sales tool. We’re just being more technologically proficient, being more customer-friendly and making downtown a better place to do business and a better place to visit, either as a conventioneer or just as a (tourist),” he said. “You won’t have to worry about having the capability to stay in touch, either by e-mail or using the Web.”
City officials said the project should help St. Louis build a high-tech reputation — and business sector.
“The mayor’s expectation is that we will make St. Louis a competitive global technology center,” said Chris Dornfeld of the city. “It’s a great challenge, but when you look at the breadth and density of technology in St. Louis, you can quickly realize it is achievable.”
Locally the St. Louis Business Journal ran a similar story:
By late July, O’Leary [O2Connect’s Tim O’Leary] said he plans to have wireless nodes, which are antennas, installed on several traffic lights in the city. The nodes will run from the riverfront along Broadway west to the mayor’s office and up and down Washington Avenue, all of which will encompass about 72 square-blocks. Broadway will be the east border, the west side of Tucker Boulevard will be the west border, Washington Avenue will be the north border and the south side of Market Street will be the south border.
Though the signal from a node likely will reach about 1,500 feet, O’Leary said that would vary because the signal is like a radio frequency, which can change from day to day. The Internet service should be accessible by the end of July.
O2Connect is providing the services and the equipment to install the nodes free of charge to the city. The contract was approved in June. Chris Dornfeld, chief of information officer for the city, said he sees the service O2Connect is providing as a great step for downtown St. Louis.
“It helps position downtown and the city of St. Louis as a technology leader,” Dornfeld said.
So where are we today? The city’s website of development projects shows the project as in the planning stages:
O2Connect is providing free wireless internet access in the downtown area, between Broadway on the east, Tucker on the west, Washington Ave on the north and Market Street on the South. Wireless access for personal laptops and PDAs will be provided through nodes installed on traffic lights, which should provide signals for up to 1,500 feet. Access was to be made available during 2003. O2Connect is reported to be providing this service with no charge to the city or to internet users.
While in planning it also indicates above that “access was to be made available during 2003.” The page shows it was updated in July 2005. So what gives? I made inquires to O2Connect, the Mayor’s office and to the Downtown St. Louis Partnership. Jim Cloar of the Partnership, despite being out of town, sent a very prompt response:
Good question, Steve. It was being set up by a private entrepreneur who offered it to the City. I know that it was established at about 5 locations (two at Kiener Plaza and three along Washington Avenue, as I recall. The taller buildings blocked out service in the core. I don’t know what happened but I’ll will be happy to check when I get back in town. Some of my counterparts in other cities have suggested that growing concerns about security and increased availability at individual sites have lessened the “demand”. I’ll see if that had relevance here.
I’ve attempted to connect to the internet at Kiener Plaza a number of times. I always manage to get a network connection but it has no internet behind it, making it useless. I will have to try along Washington Ave to see if I get anything. I personally think the idea of having wireless running around the downtown streets would be helpful. As it is, the only free wireless place I know of in that entire area east of Tucker is the St. Louis Bread Co.
I will continue to inquire with Mr. Cloar and others about what happened to this agreement and what is being planned. In the meantime, share your thoughts on downtown wireless internet. Good idea past its prime? Something we should keep working on?
– Steve
Of course it’s a good idea. And it was a great idea in 2003. But the lack of follow-through and the fact that downtown leaders don’t even know what happened is just … sad.
Lessened demand? Pfffft.
Aside: I recommended promoting wi-fi as a tourism/business draw at a DSLRA board meeting in 2002, and Barb Geisman’s response was, and I’m not making this up: “what is wi-fi?”
Chicago issued an RFP for city-wide wireless internet this past spring …
http://action.media-alliance.org/article.php?id=203
I think Breve also offers wi-fi in that area.
Downtown wi-fi could create a lot of possibilities. Just imagine tourists checking out PDA’s from their concierge with specially developed guides linking them to tourism sites, interactive maps, mass transit times, online ticketing, restaurant reservations, etc.
Someone from SBC sits on the Downtown St. Louis Partnership board. I wonder what he thought of free wifi downtown.
City wide WIFI would be easily implimented.
I have contacted Giesman and Slay several times with the “we are looking onto it” response.
Stop looking into it and make it happen.
St. Louis needs to be on the forefront, and now we have wasted a wonderful oppertunity.
I may be technically illiterate, but I don’t really get it. Why should be wi-fi be any more free than cell phone service? Why should a city with limited financial resources invest in a system that may or may not make downtown more attractive to the small minority of geek tourists (who would actually drag their laptops along on vacation)?
In my mind, it makes more sense for private businesses to subsidize it (like Starbucks and others do) than to saddle taxpayers with the expense. Plus, with the way cellphones, hand-helds (PDA’s & Crackberies) and i-pods on converging technically, wi-fi may be soon as relevant as 8-tracks and the telegraph . . .
[REPLY Some can handle their email from a Blackberry but not everyone can. Some, like myself, are often using various applications and sending files. This can be done by a small Blackberry in limited quantities but you are not going to send an AutoCAD file on it.
And wi-fi is not just for tourists. As a center for commerce in the region we want people to be able to conduct their business downtown. I do business from there as do many others I know that also do not have downtown offices.
And yes, I take my laptop on vacation. Those 2,000 photos in a week (roughly 3gb+) have to go somewhere. While in Toronto I was able to off-load the pictures from my camera onto my computer and then upload them to Flickr. I had all my images backed up online before leaving Toronto.
And a small percentage of users out on the sidewalks conducting business is a very positive thing. It adds life to the street, something we need. – SLP]
I believe that in at least one loft development downtwon, O2 Connect was terminated as the internet service provider because of poor performance.
As someone who follows the tech industry very closely, I want everyone to know not to expect free wi-fi anytime in the near future. And that might not be a bad thing.
1) Even in cities which are implementing “free” wi-fi, it isn’t really free. (Think slow connections, higher taxes, use fees, and no customer service)
2) The idea of metro wi-fi is, more than anything else, a poison pill thought up by Google and other net content providers to give them leverage in dealing with the telcos. SBC and Charter will fight metro wi-fi tooth and nail.
3) The technology being used to implement it is still in its infancy. Knowing how up on technology our political leaders are, any system St. Louis sets up now would inevitably be a 2nd class system wrought with service failures and catches.
With a 1 Watt transmitter on my roof, I could broadcast wifi over a huge area in my neighborhood. Granted I would be arrested by the FCC. This transmitter sells for a few hundred on EBay.
The City could either do the service themselves, and buy the bandwidth from an ISP, or they can subcontract the service, and pay the ISP. Either way the ISP will receive compensation.
It is my belief that the best service is not free, but cheaper. Wireless Internet currently costs about 50-70 per month from local ISP’s. The City could subsidize the cost, and offer wireless for around 10-20. Or they could offer slower service for free, say 100-200 kbps, with more expensive service 768kbps-1Mbps for a fee.
Either way it can be done with competent leadership and private/public partnerships.
Geek tourists? How about conventions? Business travelers? Those elusive “creatives”?
I travel extensively on business, and those hotels that make connectivity easy — eg wireless everywhere, lobby and rooms — are much more likely to see me a second time.
The Downtown Partnership spends scads of money printing up glossy brochures pointing out where all the parking lots (private and public) are downtown. It’s a shame that where to put cars is emphasized as a vital amenity, while the ability to use the Internet is not recognized as a draw.
(and by the way, I mistyped above. I meant to say was a Downtown Partnerthip board meeting, not a DSLRA [residents association] meeting.)
WiFi downtown is essential for the future growth of the city; however, the City should not fund or manage it. The best the City can do is shepherd/foster its implementation.
In todayÂ’s market, how favorable would a city be if it didnÂ’t have cellular service?
In tomorrowÂ’s market, that same question will apply to WiFi.
The explosive growth Panera Bread (St. Louis Bread Company) has experienced is due to three reasons: great food, great service AND Wi-Fi. I canÂ’t begin to count the number of times IÂ’ve eaten at Bread Co because out of town clients and colleagues wanted WiFi access. Go to almost any Bread Co mid-afternoon and count the number of laptops in use. From real estate to pharmaceutical sales, WiFi access is in hot demand. Panera has the cash, the driving focus and the nimbleness to delivery WiFi. The City doesn’t.
Years ago, the availability of solid cellular service was a factor in determining the site of a business conference or convention. These days, WiFi is a consideration – not THE consideration, but it could just be the one that tips the scale from one city to another.
As Becker noted above, WiFi is still in its infancy. A new WiFi standard is chugging along which will quadruple the speed of the fastest available equipment today – and, of course, quickly obsolete the existing base. While Becker was commenting on technology, it’s also true of its use. Currently, the primary use for WiFi is laptops – and laptop sales now outstrip desktop computer sales and will continue to do so at an accelerating rate.
More importantly, WiFi capable equipment is expanding into new areas that will demand WiFi presence. The next generation of cell phones, already being sold in Europe and the Far East, support WiFi. Users can set their phone to first attempt to place a call using Voice over IP technology, thereby saving their minutes. MicrosoftÂ’s response to the iPod, the Zune, is WiFi capable. Perhaps Apple might even implement WiFI on the iPod someday. Even some digital cameras are beginning to support WiFi. This list will continue to grow. The ability to fund equipment changeouts and the nimbleness to do so is only found in private enterprise, not the City.
The bottom line is that demand for WiFi will not only continue to grow, but its growth rate will accelerate substantially. The City can foster its WiFi deployments. However, due to the investment required, ongoing maintenance and the need to address rapidly changing technology, the City is the last organization you want funding and operating it.
(apologies for turning a simple response into a white paper) =)
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