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Senate Committee Holds Hearing on Municipal Wireless Internet Access
HARRISBURG -- Pennsylvania
Senate Communications and Technology Chairman, Senator Rob Wonderling (R-24)
will hold a hearing on Monday, November 7 from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Villanova
University's Cinema at the Connelly Center to examine the issue of
municipalities providing wireless internet access. Specifically, the hearing
will address whether or not a January 1, 2006 deadline under Act 183 should be
extended to allow municipalities in Pennsylvania to develop without impediment
public wireless fidelity networks, commonly referred to as Wi-Fi technology.
Act 183 provides a one-year
window for local governments and authorities to develop a municipally-owned or
created telecommunications network for advanced cable and telephone service.
The window will close on January 1, 2006, after which time municipalities must
offer the incumbent telephone company the right of first refusal to provide the
proposed service. If the local telephone company waives its right, the
municipality may then proceed in establishing its own network.
Several municipalities in the
Commonwealth are offering service to residents through their own networks, or
intend to by the end of the year. Other municipalities have expressed an
interest in establishing their own network, but will not do so before the
January 1st deadline.
The Committee will hear
testimony from representatives of local governments who have their own networks
or are working on establishing their own, including the City of Philadelphia,
which recently announced it is providing citywide wireless high-speed internet
access to its residents. The Committee will also hear from representatives of
national technology companies who are assisting municipalities in Pennsylvania
and around the nation with establishing networks. State associations and
national experts who have concerns with the security and fiscal solvency of
municipal networks will also testify.
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