The Town of Crossfield has launched a centralized Internet feed using a point-to-point radio network that connects all of the Town’s buildings into one, thus eliminating the cost associated with paying for multiple connections.
With the project currently in phase one, Chief Administrative Officer Ken Bosman said the single main access point – running off of the grain elevator near Railway Street – is utilizing the Internet feed at the Pete Knight Memorial Arena to service the others for the time being.
“That is our least awful connection,” he said. “This way also opens up some interesting possibilities in terms of potentially expanding the network out into the community.”
When the new library location is completed later this year, Bosman said it would be equipped with an Alberta SuperNet connection that the Town could then use in place of the arena, boosting Internet speeds and bandwidth capabilities of this single centralized feed.
Once this new connection is running off SuperNet, he said the Town could continue to install access points around Crossfield and create a network of Wi-Fi hotspots at a one time cost of about $1,500 per location.
“Welcome to the 21st century,” Bosman said. “I’m looking forward to it.”
Mayor Nathan Anderson said the concept of Crossfield potentially becoming a “Wi-Fi town” was an interesting idea from both a business and connectivity standpoint.
Though he said he is not for subsidized or socialized solutions, this is one idea that he agreed might make sense, as anyone who cannot afford the $50 to $100 monthly cost of an average Internet connection could have hotspot access and participate in the global community.
“Access to the Internet is almost becoming what access to education was,” Anderson said. “If you’re always looking for ways to help your ratepayers, that’s a different way.”
His only concern with having public Wi-Fi hotspots available on a mass scale is the issue of quality control.
Anderson said people use the Internet for a variety of personal reason, including downloading movies and accessing other “less reputable” sites, which the Town might not want happening on its network.
With Deputy Mayor James Ginter and Councillor Devon Helfrich absent during the April 19 regular council meeting, Anderson requested the idea of a Wi-Fi town be debated with a full council at a later date before giving administration any direction towards conducting a feasibility study.
“It might be something to revisit now that we understand the situation a little better,” he said. “It’s certainly worth a debate, if nothing else.”
