The new Minneapolis Wi-Fi Internet access service begins May 11 in 2 square miles including the Seward neighborhood. Service begins downtown the week of May 21.
Wi-Fi Internet access uses radio waves to link laptop or desktop computers to special radio units placed throughout the city. US Internet of Minnetonka last year won a contract with Minneapolis to build, own and operate a wireless network that by year's end will serve all of the city's 59 square miles.
Minneapolis is one of many cities, including Philadelphia and San Francisco, that are pursuing Wi-Fi networks as a way to provide more widely available, lower-cost broadband Internet access, partly to help bridge the digital divide between technology haves and have-nots. The city of Minneapolis also hopes to reduce its telecommunications costs with the network.
Initially customers will be able to buy wireless Internet download speeds of 1 million bits per second for $19.95 a month, said Joe Caldwell, the company's sales vice president. A US Internet mailing to prospective customers will include a website where they can sign up for a $10 discount on the first month's service.
Also- here's the remaining roll-out schedule:May 11: Two square miles stretching from the Mississippi River on the east to Hiawatha Avenue on the west, and from E. Lake Street on the south to Interstate Hwy. 35W and the Mississippi River on the north
Week of May 21: Downtown area from I-35W on the east to Nicollet Mall on the west, and from I-94 on the south to the Mississippi River on the north
June 5: All of downtown
June 27: Longfellow/Powderhorn/Phillips
Aug. 15: Calhoun Isles/Southwest
Sept. 7: North
Oct. 10: Northeast
Nov. 2: Nokomis
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