Florida start-up to lead bid for wireless LI

Aug. 16--Suffolk and Nassau leaders Wednesday announced an ambitious plan for wireless Internet access on most of Long Island, awarding the contract to the only bidder who offered the service at no cost to taxpayers.

The winning bid came from e-Path Communications, a Florida start-up that will partner with two major firms, KeySpan Communications and Cisco Systems, to build, maintain and operate the $150-million system, which is scheduled to be completed in about three years.

County Executives Steve Levy, of Suffolk, and Thomas Suozzi, of Nassau, said at a joint press conference in Hauppauge that many specifics of the project were still under discussion, and that a contract would be signed later this year.

Suozzi acknowledged there was "a lot of risk" the project would never be completed.

The Tampa company described itself in a filing with the Florida Public Service Commission in May as being "in its start-up phase," and its $400 filing fee bounced, according to the Florida PSC's Web site. The company blamed the bounced check on the firm that does its payroll.

It eventually won the right from the PSC to provide wireless service in Delray Beach, Fla., where final approval is still pending, but only after assuring the agency that the company was solvent, the Web site said.

Neither the county executives nor e-Path president Joe Tortoretti responded to a question at the press conference about the bounced check.

The initial service on Long Island, which would provide e-mail and other basic Internet access, would be free in outdoor public places, and about 750 of the Island's 1,200 square miles would be covered, officials said.

The coverage would blanket populous areas, including transportation hubs, shopping centers and public recreation areas such as beaches and parks. The Pine Barrens, wineries and other remote areas would not be covered.

The second tier of service calls for installation of Wi-Fi devices in private homes, with a projected $25 monthly fee for most users, and free use for people whose income is below the federal poverty level.

The third tier would provide top-of-the-line service, including games and other services, for a projected fee of $55 per month.

Levy and Suozzi said the e-Path Communications proposal was selected from six or seven bids because it was the only one that did not require government funding.

"This was by far the best for us because the other proposals that came in, they wanted us to pay them a huge sum of money," Levy said. "This is an up-and-coming firm as opposed to one like AT&T that's been around forever. But that's why we stressed that they have partnered here with some powerhouses in Cisco and KeySpan."

The county officials declined to speculate on how the project would affect other potential wireless providers, but a Verizon spokesman said it did not see it as competition because the service would be limited to Long Island while Verizon's customers can get service anywhere.

In a statement, Cablevision called itself "the leading provider of broadband service on Long Island," but it did not address the possibility of competition.

Levy said a pilot for the project would be done on the Route 110 corridor in Suffolk and the Hub in Nassau to make sure the technology was workable before it was rolled out to the rest of the Island.

The initial outdoor system would be free for users, and the winning bidder would turn a profit through ads and user fees for an indoor wireless system to be developed later. The plan calls for shoe-box sized transmitters to be mounted on utility poles or street lights.

When the system is completed, Long Island could be one of the largest wireless Internet hot spots in the country, and that should make it a more attractive place to live and do business, the officials said.

The idea for a Wi-Fi system on Long Island was first broached by Levy in January 2006, and Suozzi quickly joined in. A year later, Gov. Eliot Spitzer declared in his inaugural State of the State address that he wanted universal high-speed wireless access across the state.

As yesterday's press conference drew to a close, Suozzi sounded a cautionary note. "It's not a done deal," he said. "Until you actually go and hook this thing up and you see it show up on your computer, it's not done."

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