COUNCIL BLUFFS (AP) — Council Bluffs has received equipment that will allow it to move forward with plans to offer wireless Internet throughout the city.
The city and its school district agreed to partner months ago in expanding Wi-Fi access from the current, few hotspots that are scattered throughout the community, the Daily Nonpareil reported.
The goal is to help offer students, most of whom already have been issued a laptop by their schools, access to the Internet so they can use the technology for homework or other projects, said Mark Howard, who serves as the city’s chief information official.
“Our goal is to cover where residents live, especially those with students,” Howard said Monday. He added the Wi-Fi network could improve public safety and help increase economic development in Council Bluffs.
City staff will be helped in the Wi-Fi expansion by the Georgia-based firm, Smartwave, which Howard said is experienced in municipal wireless Internet network installation.
The first phase of the expansion will occur in the neighborhood around a middle school. Howard hopes the Wi-Fi project will finish this year.
Some of the costs to expand Wi-Fi in the city will come from the private sector, with Google leading the charge, Howard said.
“It looks like a wonderful plan,” councilwoman Sharon White said.