[Previous entry: "Spokane now #2"] [Next entry: "ETech -- Day 1"]

03/11/2005: "City of Spokane addicted to crack"

According to the Spokane Journal of Business, Spokane is looking to expand its WiFi coverage.

The city of Spokane, in cooperation with others, is working on plans to enlarge a broadband wireless-communication network that currently covers just a 100-block area of downtown.

The goal is to provide a greatly expanded grid for the fast-growing technology known as wireless fidelity, or “Wi-Fi,” which uses unlicensed radio spectrum to enable high-speed data transmission to portable computers.

Although such technology is seen as a potential catalyst for economic development here, this part of the planned network expansion is “municipal only” and is being designed specifically for use by public-safety agencies, says Joel Hobson, the city’s network services manager.

and concludes with

The creation of the downtown “hot zone” amounted to the first phase of the wireless network strategy being spearheaded by the city. In the second phase, Wi-Fi switches are to be installed atop towers near the North Division “Y,” on the West Plains, and near the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office substation in the east 12700 block of Sprague Avenue.

The third phase will involve installing equipment that creates a hot zone encompassing the Spokane County Courthouse, at 1116 W. Broadway, the adjoining public-safety building, and nearby city and county garages, he says. Fourth-phase work will provide “fill-in” coverage, at locations yet to be determined, along major transportation corridors.

The total cost of the second through fourth phases is expected to be roughly $200,000 to $300,000, and the projects are being paid for with grant money, Hobson says.


First, I recall lots of (super-expensive, and well-patroled) parking around the Spokane County Courthouse. Yep, says here that,

Spokane County provides parking to employees, vendors, and customers of the County through the use of 14 parking lots around the campus. Parking is very limited with only 519 spaces available for lease to County employees. The program uses a zone-parking program, which allows the over-sell of spaces to get the most utilization of the available area.

Four lots contain 230-metered spaces with two and six hour parking. There are 18 disabled spaces located in various lots with wheel chair access. Metered spaces are required payment by coin between the hours of 8 am and 5 pm. Lots are patrolled on a daily basis with tickets issued to those in violation of the posted parking.

If a 10 x 10 block area costs $75,000, (except that it costs $125,000 according to Vivato), how much coverage will they get out of their next $300,000 dollars?

Maybe Vivato is having a "fire sale" on all those left-over outdoor switches, in addition to the significant price drop on the indoor variant. Times must be getting tough at Vivato, the money's about out, and there is no announcement of the badly-needed funding event. Selling off the first-generation crap (for it is crap, Bob!) at 50% of cost is one way to score some cash in the short-term.

I'll be back in Spokane soon. Gotta go check out those new locations.