TMCnet News
Brookline, MA to go WiFiBy Erik Linask Associate Editor MobilePro Corp. and Galaxy Internet Services, a Boston-area ISP and Massachusetts State Internet Service contractor, have been selected by the Town of Brookline, MA’s wireless selection committee to design, deploy, and maintain a cross-town wireless network.
The multi-spectrum (2.4, 5.8 and 4.9 GHz), multi-radio, mesh network will enable public safety, government, and commercial applications on a single network infrastructure. It will be the first mixed-use network using an integrated public safety access channel (4.9GHz) to be deployed in Massachusetts. The network will support a range of fixed and mobile applications, including police data communications, VoIP, access to the Internet, voice, data, and video throughout the coverage area. Subscription services to the public will be available over the network’s WiFi channels through Galaxy Internet and other retail ISPs on an annual, monthly, daily, and even hourly basis. It will provide a town-wide multi-band WiFi network for municipal vehicles and personnel, as well as wireless services for residences, retail businesses, schools, hotels and resorts, transportation operators, and public events. NeoReach Wireless, MobilePro’s technology division, says its goal is to eliminate the capital investments required by municipalities to deploy wireless networks, as well as the on-going costs required to manage and service them. NeoReach has already installed a city-wide network in Tempe, AZ — which the firm says was the first to cover an entire city — and is in the midst of additional; deployments in Sacramento, CA as well as additional locations in Texas, Ohio, and Arizona.
WAZMetro is the brand name of the various municipal networks owned and operated by NeoReach Wireless, Inc. — the Tempe network, thus, is called WazTempe. WazTempe consists of hundreds of access points and covers a 40 square mile area. The mesh network will allow subscribers to utilize the Internet on laptops, WySIP phones, cell phones, and PDAs anywhere within Tempe's borders.
Jay Wright, MobilePro chairman and CEO, said, “We are pleased to have been chosen by Brookline’s Wireless Selection Committee with our long-time partner Galaxy Internet. The Brookline network will showcase our ability to provide public safety access in the licensed 4.9 GHz spectrum across our networks. We believe working with a local partner that has a long-standing reputation with the community makes this a win-win for everyone.”
The Brookline committee's selection will be presented to the town's board of selectmen for its final approval.
Erik Linask is Associate Editor of INTERNET TELEPHONY. Most recently, he was Managing Editor at Global Custodian, an international securities services publication. To see more of his articles, please visit Erik Linask’s columnist page.
|