Working to connect all of Los Angeles to the global community and global economy, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has announced the LA Wi-Fi Initiative, which will provide residents, schools and businesses with cost effective, high-speed access to the internet. The LA Wi-Fi Initiative will plan and build the single largest citywide network in the country.
"Today is the start of Los Angeles version 2.0," Villaraigosa said last week. "Today we announce our commitment to creating the single largest citywide wireless network in the country."
Joining Villaraigosa for the announcement were Councilman Tony Cardenas, chair of the city's information technology committee; Tim Sarnoff, president Sony Pictures Imageworks; John Manulis, CEO of Visionbox Media Group; and, students from the Oscar de la Hoya Charter School.
The first step of the LA Wi-Fi initiative is to hire a technology expert who will join a city team to structure a proposal to attract and engage the private sector. The working team will consider several issues, including adopting best business model for Los Angeles' needs, ensuring community participation in the network's planning, and honing the network's ability to improve city services. Once negotiations with the private sector are complete, the construction of the network's infrastructure will begin. It is estimated that construction of the network would begin in mid 2008 with completion of the citywide network by 2009.
"In today's fast-paced world, we need to give hard-working Angelenos an easier and cheaper way of doing business with the city. Providing a city-wide wireless telecommunications program is another way of bridging the gap between local government and the communities it serves," said Cardenas.
LA will be able to use the network to enhance the delivery of city services by transmitting data between police patrol cars, instantaneously sending the location of potholes or forwarding on-site building inspection reports to speed up the building process.
"By giving every resident high-speed access, we will transform Los Angeles into a cutting-edge city across every neighborhood and every economic sector," Villaraigosa said. "LA Wi-Fi will help us meet the technology needs of our world-class media and creative industries, give a leg up to small businesses, plug every neighborhood directly into the knowledge-based global economy, and make computer training programs for students an after-school reality."
Wireless internet is just one component of Wi-Fi usage with businesses and municipal governments using the technology to transfer endless amounts of data.
On Friday, March 16th, LA also unveiled a municipal wireless network and video surveillance system in the city's Jordan Downs public housing complex. The wireless network is a part of a project designed to help curb criminal activity and provide a safe environment for residents in one of the city's most notorious high-crime public housing areas. The system also eventually will expand to supply public wireless broadband access to residents and schools in the area. Mayor Villaraigosa and Chief of Police William Bratton were on hand.
"Motorola's wireless broadband network allows our officers to have information when they need it most to manage an incident, to inform first responders as they arrive at a scene aware of what they will face, and to use video to size up an uncertain situation," said Chief Bratton. "Since the cameras were installed, major crime has dropped 32 percent in Jordan Downs in the last two months, compared to the same period last year."
