Today's Sun-Times:
After more than a year of study that included City Council hearings, the Daley administration finally issued a "request for proposals" that invites technology companies to describe how they would build an $18.5 million wireless Internet access system that would extend into Chicago's poorest communities.At least one Chicago blogger is enthusiastic. Incidentally, Philadelphia City Council approved that city's proposed Earthlink system a few weeks back.
... Determined to bridge the digital divide, Mayor Daley also demanded that Chicago's private-sector partner make a "financial commitment" to "digital inclusion programs." They include affordable computers and software programs and computer training aimed at the estimated 22 percent of all households that remain without a connection to the Internet and its boundless possibilities...
Responses are due back in four months, and Daley has asked former chief of staff Julia Stasch to chair an advisory panel to evaluate competitors for the 10-year contract. Once a winner is chosen, the system is expected to take roughly 18 months to install.
"We'll be the first major city to move ahead in [bridging] this digital divide. No other city has done that in America," Daley said.
At a news conference at Al Raby School, the mayor argued that the "21st century economy" demands universal access to computer technology. "China, India and Japan know that the way to grow their economy is to invest in technology, and we have to keep pace. . . . The United States has some of the most advanced computer technology in the world. The problem is, not everyone has access to it. In technology, as in too many other areas of our society, there's a wide gap between the haves and have-nots," the mayor said.
Chief Information Officer Hardik Bhatt said the city's goal is to create an alternative broadband service that competes with cable, DSL and cell phone-based wireless service and, therefore, drives down costs. In exchange for paying Chicago a sizeable monthly fee and, possibly, a share of revenues, a technology company or group would install, maintain and upgrade roughly 7,500 small antennae on streetlight poles every one and a half to two blocks, at a cost of roughly $18.5 million. If additional antennae are needed, City Hall could provide that, too.
You think it might be time for Cleveland to get a plan?