straight out of sci-fi
The side streets of St. Louis Park are typical of a small suburban town. Yet a double take is likely for anyone who encounters these streets and notices one of many solar panels giving high-speed Internet to the city’s residents.
Over the past two years, this western suburb has been in the process of planning and implementing a citywide wireless Internet service called ParkWiFi. This is nothing extraordinary; many cities around the nation, including Philadelphia, Houston and San Francisco either currently offer or have plans to institute citywide WiFi. St. Louis Park’s service is unique because it is the first in the country to be powered almost entirely by solar energy.
The installation of ParkWiFi is scheduled for completion in late 2007 by a Maryland-based company called Aeronautical Radio, Inc. The solar energy is collected by panels atop poles that have been erected alongside streets throughout the city. Some residents complained about the way these poles look.
“If I had one in the middle of my sightline to the street, I wouldn’t like it,” says St. Louis Park resident Mike Ellsworth, who took part in ParkWiFi’s early pilot program. “They are pretty ugly, and if I were to do it, I would recommend the more expensive option of putting up a much higher pole so that all the equipment is not at eye level.”
According to St. Louis Park’s Chief Information Officer, Clint Pires, the speed of the WiFi service is comparable to DSL—faster than dial-up but a bit slower than cable modem service.
Nick Nelson
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