Summary: Need help with PR? If you are looking for a great PR firm, you've found one. Walker Sands is a leading Chicago PR firm with a strong track record that makes it one of top national PR agencies..

A plan to make all of Ottawa County a wireless hot-spot will soon allow Grand Valley State University students to access the Internet anywhere in the county that they can bring a laptop computer.
(article continues below useful links)

The project began with a proposal to connect all the local units of government with video conferencing technology in order to allow them to meet together on multi-jurisdictional projects without having to leave their offices. At the time, the installation of the necessary T-1 Internet lines was deemed too expensive and the idea was put on hold.

Then, about two years ago, the Ottawa County planning commission heard about a wireless broadband project on Mackinac Island and looked into it as a possible solution to its video conferencing problem. At that same time, the company Ottawa Wireless came into Grand Haven with a plan for blanket wireless coverage there.

On July 29 of this year, Grand Haven became the first city in the entire country to begin operation of a citywide wireless fidelity broadband network. Users can connect to the Internet anywhere within city limits and boaters can access the network up to 15 miles from shore.

Development of the county-wide network is quickly moving through the planning phases. A 17-member task force made up of wireless providers, local units of government and chambers of commerce has accepted a business model for the network and the county planning commission hopes to issue a request for proposal by Jan. 1.

Ottawa County planning director Mark Knudsen said the commission will have wireless firms create proposals and that the commission will pick the firm with the best credentials. Knudsen expects construction of the network to begin in late March or early April and a county-wide wireless system to be in place within three years.

Since GVSU already offers free wireless broadband in all academic buildings and select housing locations on the Allendale and downtown Pew Campus, students living off-campus will benefit most when Ottawa County goes wireless.

"From a student standpoint it would be more advantageous for those that want to have mobile computing, so in other words a laptop," said Susan Korzinek, GVSU's director of information technology. "If they had a laptop at home then they could easily bring that to school, which also provides wireless access so they could do everything on one computer. I think that it's a great opportunity to have it in both locations whether you're on-campus or off-campus."

"What we're hoping to get out of this is the ability to have portability county-wide," Knudsen said. "So if you're a student at GVSU and you're paying for this wireless service you can also go to the beach in Grand Haven, the beach in Holland or go downtown Zeeland or downtown Coopersville. You'll have access wherever you go in the county."

Because the county-wide network is going to be built entirely with private funds, the service is expected to come with a price. Currently, subscriptions to the Grand Haven network begin at $19.99 per month for a connection speed of 256 kilobytes per second. Connections up to one megabytes per second and per-day pricing options are also available.

Copyright © 2004. Grand Valley Lanthorn.