The Sunnyvale Sun
News
MetroFi coming to most residents in Sunnyvale
By JASON GOLDMAN-HALL
The city of Sunnyvale recently gave more than $100,000 to an architectural firm to help plan the Library of the Future, but one of the biggest steps forward recently came at no cost to the city.
Library director Deborah Barrow said one of the most frequently requested services at the library is for wireless Internet access for visitors. That deficiency has now been cured, thanks to the latest step in MetroFi's local efforts to create a city-wide wireless network.
It's been almost two years since the city awarded MetroFi a five-year contract to create the network. Founder Chuck Haas said they are now through the third of four installation phases. The company started covering southern neighborhoods in Sunnyvale and now covers most residential areas south of Highway 101, including the downtown area and civic campus.
"Covering the library is definitely a part of MetroFi's goal of connecting Sunnyvale users at home and around town," he said.
The final phase will bring the network to the residential areas north of Highway 101. Haas said there are no plans to extend the network into the industrial and commercial parts of Sunnyvale north of 101.
Not only is MetroFi the first wireless carrier to succeed in blanketing Sunnyvale, but it also has done so at no cost to the city and little cost to users. There are currently two ways--one free, one with a $19.95 monthly subscription fee--to access the network. The service can be used for free, as long as users don't mind a small box of local advertisements that runs on screen.
MetroFi also pays a $36 annual rental fee for each pole its transmitters are mounted on. Haas has estimated there will be 350 poles in use when the network is complete.
Although the MetroFi transmitters--18 inches tall, 12 inches wide and cone-shaped--are strong enough to penetrate the library's thick structure, an extra transmitter was installed on a light pole near the library to ensure steady service even when the library is full of wireless users.
"We needed to make sure that we had the capacity for all the users," he said.
Haas said while the transmitters are up and running now, some testing of the network might still be needed.
The installation of the network comes just as the city is moving forward with the Library of the Future project, to turn the 30-year old library into a modern resource for residents.
"People have really been looking forward to this service," Barrow said.
For more information, surf over to www.metrofi.com. At the site, you can input your address to find out if you are covered in MetroFi's network.
