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Rio Rancho's wireless plans are back on track.
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The city has agreed to terms with Azulstar, a wireless service provider, which helped build a city-wide high-speed wireless network in Grand Haven, Mich.

City Administrator Jim Palenick plans to ask city councilors to approve the agreement between Rio Rancho and the company next week.

Under the terms of agreement, Azulstar would begin deployment of the wireless network on Nov. 15 with a projected completion date of May 15.

The city contracted with USURF America, a Colorado-based company, for a 103-square-mile wireless network earlier this year.

The city terminated its contract with USURF in August after it became clear the company couldn't meet the deployment deadline.

Palenick has said the goal is to turn the entire city of Rio Rancho into a wireless hotspot.

That would allow Internet subscribers to receive high-speed access to the Internet anywhere in the city with a wireless-capable machine.

"If this license agreement is approved, we now stand in a position to become the second, fully wireless city in the United States," Palenick wrote in an administrator's report to councilors.

The report goes on to state Rio Rancho would be the largest city-wide hotspot. Grand Haven's population was almost 11,200, according to the 2000 Census.

Under the license agreement, the city will facilitate the deployment of Azulstar's mesh network by allowing it to use city rights-of-way and buildings for its small wireless antennas.

The city will be entitled to a portion of the company's profits in the future.

Azulstar, a subsidiary of Ottawa Wireless, which is based in Grand Haven, believes it could have the entire wireless system deployed by Feb. 1, Palenick wrote.

The city's original goal was to have the wireless network in place by March 15.

Other cities across the country, such as Philadelphia, are also pursuing city-wide networks for high-speed wireless Internet.

Copyright © 2004. Albuquerque Journal.