Michigan city bills itself as having the first citywide WiFi network

Roger Bergman, the mayor of Grand Haven, MI, has announced the completion and full operation of the nation's first citywide WiFi broadband network.

Other cities have announced intent to build similar networks or have announced partial deployments. In contrast, the Grand Haven implementation, by Ottawa Wireless Inc., is the first full and complete citywide WiFi deployment in the country.

"As the first WiFi city in America, Grand Haven has truly lived up to its name in the Internet era, as we now allow anyone anywhere to connect to the Internet and roam the city and waterways in a completely secure computing environment," says Mayor Bergman. "The citywide WiFi service provided by Ottawa Wireless is already enhancing the quality of life for residents and tourists and enabling the city to provide new services."

Developed and managed by Ottawa Wireless, a provider of wireless Internet access solutions to business and local government, the system uses several hundred WiFi (802.11a, b, g) radios strategically located upon the city infrastructure to blanket its six square miles and provide coverage 15 miles into Lake Michigan. WiFi, for wireless fidelity, is a technology that gives users the freedom to receive and transmit data over the Internet at high speeds from anywhere within the broadcast signal range. Voice over IP (VOIP) Internet-based phone service is also available on the new network.

The citywide WiFi service, which began commercial operation on a smaller scale in the fall of 2003, represents a technology first for Ottawa Wireless, which also is developing many other communitywide WiFi "hot cities" across the Midwest.

"While a few other cities have announced their intent to build similar networks, Grand Haven is the first to provide access across the entire city limits, making it America's first 'hot city,'" says Ottawa Wireless CEO Tyler van Houwelingen, a former Intel engineer and McKinsey & Company technology consultant.

For more information visit www.ottawawireless.net.