AT&T eyes municipal Wi-Fi deals
Springfield, Ill., picks it to offer wireless Internet access to residents and businesses.
In its first such deal, the country's biggest phone company said it planned to build a Wi-Fi network for Springfield to offer a free, ad-sponsored service of limited speed of 250-260 kilobits per second as well a paid service with a faster speed of up to around 1 megabit per second.
The Wi-Fi network could also be used to support municipal government operations, AT&T said. Other details, as well as city council approval, were still pending.
Eric Shepcaro, senior vice president of business development at AT&T, said he expected more such deals.
Locating local internet providers
"There are up to a dozen cities that we're actively pursuing," he said in an interview.
He said the company was aiming for cities "where it makes economic sense."
Locating local internet providers
The planned network would cover between 25 and 30 square miles, using a combination of Wi-Fi and fixed wireless services. AT&T declined to disclose how much it was investing in the plan, but said taxpayers would not be contributing.