* RFP responses for Silicon Valley net due next month
There have been efforts afoot, officially since last fall, to create an integrated, regional Wi-Fi network spanning all of California’s Silicon Valley. Eventually, the network is slated to integrate with other wireless technologies as they mature.
The Wireless Silicon Valley Task Force consists primarily of IT managers in the region’s cities and counties. Last month, it released an RFP for the ambitious project, which aims to cover 1,500 square miles and reach 2.4 million people. The area is larger than 18 of the U.S. states.
The vision is for individuals to be able to use their Wi-Fi-enabled devices from San Carlos to San Jose (about a 40-mile stretch) without worrying about changing accounts or logins. Applications might include mobile credit card readers, traffic information management, GPS-specific tourist information, best location dispatch of emergency responders, and remote monitoring and control of flood control pumps and drinking water distribution systems. The task force believes that participating vendors will be able to reduce costs by designing a network that will support multiple wireless technologies on a large scale.
The RFP prefers an “open network model” that is privately owned and operated but provides access to multiple service providers.
The San Mateo County Telecommunications Authority issued the RFP on behalf of the initiative with development help from Intel Solution Services, which has collaborated on muni Wi-Fi projects for the City of Portland, the City of Tempe and Arizona State University. The wireless task group was formed by Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network, a 13-year-old organization that brings together leaders from business, government, academia, labor and elsewhere in the community to advance networking in the Bay Area’s Silicon Valley region.
Responses to the RFP are due June 30. The Task Force will review the responses and make recommendations to the cities and counties in September. The first elements of the network are slated to be operational in late December or early January 2007.
