Wireless Internet waits on financing OK

BYLINE: Philip Marcelo, Journal Staff Writer

FOSTER - A state-financed, townwide wireless Internet system promoted by Governor Carcieri last August isn't coming anytime soon, officials familiar with the project say.

The state Economic Development Commission is holding out until the state General Assembly approves a $28.5-million loan to create the statewide wireless Internet system that Carcieri envisions, according to EDC spokesman Andy Cutler.

Rep. Nicholas Gorham, R-Coventry, Foster, Glocester, who petitioned Carcieri to include the town of about 5,000 residents in its pilot wireless Internet project, said that the state hasn't done any work in town that he was aware of nor has it offered any timeline for its completion.

"I had heard the EDC was looking at Jerimoth Hill as the site for a [transmission] tower for the system," he said. "But they haven't told me anything. I'd be curious to hear what's going on."

According to Cutler, representatives of the Business Innovation Factory, a nonprofit that is working closely with the state to create the system, have been meeting with town officials to determine what departments it would best benefit.

Over the past two months, he said, the Business Innovation Factory has also been deciding what technology is appropriate to suit the needs of the town, said Cutler.

And while the state has not unveiled the town Internet system as soon as it hoped, Cutler said the state is ready to purchase the technology needed for the system and does expect a rollout in the next two to three months.

But all of that is contingent on how the state General Assembly treats the governor's budget, which includes a provision that would allow the state to borrow the money needed to build a wireless Internet system throughout the state, said Cutler.

In August, Carcieri made a rare visit to town to announce that Foster would be one of three communities to test the technology for a planned statewide wireless Internet system.

Known as the Rhode Island Wireless Innovation Networks, or RI-WINs, the proposed system would be used chiefly by government agencies but be open to private companies for a fee.

The system would make Rhode Island the first state to go fully wireless.

In the fall, Carcieri set aside $200,000 in his discretionary budget to purchase and install a central radio transmitter for the town's Internet system.

A small portion of that money has been spent and the remainder will be used to complete the Foster project, said Stuart Freiman, manager of the EDC's Innovations Programs.

Saul Kaplan, the executive director of the state Economic Development Commission, said in August that the system - which is running in Providence and Newport - would be operational by January or February.

Carcieri's August announcement was warmly received in a town that has long held the distinction of being one of the last communities in the state without the modern comforts of cable television or high speed Internet. Only about half the town has the infrastructure for either service.

And with a growing population of telecommuting workers, or persons who conduct their jobs via phone, e-mail and fax from home offices, residents said it was time they joined the digital age.

pmarcelo@projo.com / (401) 277-7493