This is a list of all the media coverage our project has received:
September 14, 2009
Officials make pitch for Wi-Fi – Don Nelson
September 28, 2009
Federal Grant Would Create Regional Wireless Network – Brandee Thomas
The full text of the story can be seen at http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/news/article/24094/
By Brandee A. Thomas
bthomas@gainesvilletimes.com
An organization based in Athens would like to help residents in surrounding areas surf the Internet.
The Athens Economic Development Foundation has applied for a federal grant that would help build a six-county wireless network.
In addition to the Clarke County area, the proposed network would include portions of Jackson, Barrow, Madison, Oconee and Oglethorpe counties.
The goal of the project, which is currently known as the Northeast Georgia Net Project, is to “enhance small business development, education opportunities for low-income residents and tourism,” says project manager and foundation board member Stephanie Sharp.
According to Sharp, the project has been certified by a professional engineer.
“This service is not meant as a substitute for paid service. It is to serve as a supplemental service for business people that are away from their offices and need connectivity, for people who can’t afford their own connection and for tourists within the proposed coverage area to use the Internet with their laptops or mobile devices,” Sharp said. “This project will help the entire six county area be more competitive in terms of small-business development, workforce development and tourism. The six primarily rural counties each offered letters of support for this project.”
If approved, the grant could cover up to $3.2 million of the $4 million cost.
“We will cover up to 5 square miles in each county. If we receive the grant monies, each county will be asked to appoint a person to the broadband grant committee,” said Sharp. “This person will communicate with county officials and will help determine the exact preferred areas of coverage within the county. The network will be free and open to anyone within the geographic range of coverage.”
NEGANet project officially submitted a grant application on August 20, 2009 for the BTOP Grant. Our grant is focused on sustainable broadband adoption. We received letters of support from all involved counties and from Senator Chambliss, Congressman Brown, and Congressman Linder.
Thanks to Ren Buckland and Connected Technologies we have some additional connectivity on Washington Street around First Methodist Church and Morton Theatre. First Methodist Church has donated bandwidth and Morton Theatre has donated a repeater location. We did this in hopes to provide service to vendors and visitors in town for AthFest this weekend (June 26-28, 2009).
Since 2002, Drew Page, President of the Athens Economic Development Foundation, has been working to attract and establish new businesses that will create additional jobs and import capital investment to Clarke County. With tough economic times lingering, Page and board member Stephanie Sharp decided it is time to take a new approach to building business opportunities in the area. Page and Sharp recognized that there are a vast number of school children in Athens-Clarke County, as well as outlying counties, who are unable to access the Internet. Ideally, they wanted to do something that benefits both the businesses of today, as well as the businesses of tomorrow, and provides all children in the area with Internet access, giving them the same educational advantages as school children in more populated areas.
In early April, the State of Georgia began soliciting Georgia cities to submit shovel-ready broadband projects for funding available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Athens is on the forefront of wireless initiatives. The University of Georgia’s New Media Institute (NMI) installed the Wireless Athens, Georgia Zone (WAGZone) for research purposes in 2003. At the time, Athens was one of few cities nationwide with a free wireless zone that encompassed a downtown area, but in 2008, the project ended and the WAGZone was shut down.
Since the inception of the WAGZone, technology has advanced and the costs of municipal wireless access have decreased considerably. Sharp, the founder and CEO of Plexus, an Athens-based Web development firm, recognized the value wireless Internet access offers economic development in the area while also achieving her goal of providing broadband Internet to children and adults without access. With the drive to capitalize on newly available grant money and Athens’ strategic location in the region, Sharp began researching and applying for grant funds to provide wireless connectivity not only in Athens-Clarke County but also in the surrounding counties of Oconee, Oglethorpe, Madison, Barrow, and Jackson. This project provides a vehicle to enhance the educational opportunities for children and adults living in the area and offers the region a competitive edge for attracting new and expanding businesses. The Athens project provides a model that can be duplicated and developed into a regional project to enhance the entire area.
Sharp initiated a pilot program in partnership with Meraki, a wireless radio technology manufacturer and SmartWave, a leading “wireless” centric systems integrator that provides the planning, design, and integration of wireless networks, to build an organic Wi-Fi mesh network, coined Athens Wi-Fi Pilot, in downtown Athens.
The pilot program launched the morning of Friday, April 24, 2009 in Downtown Athens, just hours before the start of the annual Twilight Criterium bike race. Sharp and members of the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce reached out to local businesses to discuss the goals of the ARRA grant application and provided an overview of the Meraki equipment required for the pilot. Every business approached agreed to support the project by providing mounting assets, as well as sharing broadband connectivity to support the mesh. The current participants include Heery’s Clothes Closet, R.E.M. Ltd., Five Star Day Café, Barberitos, and Mellow Mushroom.
During the first weekend, when downtown was crawling with visitors and locals enjoying the Twilight Criterium, more than 250 people used the Athens Wifi Pilot. This number is remarkable in light of the fact that no advertising or promotion was produced for the newly available network. In the two weeks following, the system has seen over 700 individual users with a large amount of repeat use. Far exceeding the use from the UGA-sponsored WAG zone, the Athens Wi-Fi Pilot is considered a success already, even in its infancy.
After the pilot deployment, SmartWave identified Connected Technologies as an Athens-based integration firm to partner with to expand the network, if the grant funds are awarded. In the spirit of the Broadband Stimulus Principle requirements, partnering with an Athens-based firm promotes the local economy, demonstrates collaborative efforts amongst vendors, and leverages local experience for a better understanding of the un-served and underserved areas within Athens-Clarke County. Since this partnership, Connected Technologies has purchased the existing Pilot network equipment to insure the network continues to provide a service to citizens and visitors to the downtown area, and the organic growth has begun.
“It is really amazing what we have been able to accomplish in such a short period of time. From the onset, everything came together very quickly and seemed to fall right into place through a collaborative effort of vendors, businesses, government entities, and community organizations. I feel very good about what we’ve been able to achieve, and I’m very excited about the opportunity we have to expand this network throughout Athens-Clarke County and the other 29 cities in our Grant application request,” said Stephanie Sharp.
If your business is interested in participating in the program please let us know by submitting your information.
As of Monday afternoon, May 11, 2009 the latest numbers show we have had almost 750 users access the Wi-Fi network and 6.7 GB of data has been transferred through the system.
Since Friday, April 24, 2009 we have seen just under 425 unique users which have downloaded a little over 3.25GB of data. The average download speed is about 3 Mbps.
Coverage Map
Thanks for using the Athens free Wi-Fi service. This is a pilot program and the free Wi-Fi service will only be available for 30 days beginning April 24, 2009. The bandwidth you are using is being donated by several local businesses downtown and the Athens Downtown Development Authority.
If you want to know more about the project please read about it in depth.
