NEWS
Madison ditches Internet supplier
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by Courtney Johnson
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
A local Internet service provider will no longer be working with Mad City Broadband to provide wireless Internet access to the city of Madison.
According to Bryan Schenker, director of ResTech Services, Mad City Broadband terminated the contract. Schenker said he could not give a specific reason why the company decided to end the partnership, and Mad City Broadband did not return calls as of press time.
The contract's end, Schenker said, is not a bad development for his company, which also provides wireless Internet access to several large apartment buildings.
"From our perspective, ResTech would prefer to focus on our existing multiple-tenant Internet service," Schenker said. "We look forward to refocusing our time and effort on a side of our business that is growing very fast, which is our multiple-tenant business."
ResTech also provides wireless access to Madisonians who do not live in large apartment buildings. However, Schenker said this portion of business has slowed — the company at one point provided 2,000 wireless subscriptions, but now only provides about 700.
"The primary reason people cite is that they just cannot connect and they can't use the Wi-Fi network," Schenker said.
These subscribers will also be affected by the contract termination, but those living in large apartment complexes with ResTech services will not.
Although ResTech, in effect, provided wireless Internet access to the city of Madison, the company's contract was not through the city — only through Mad City Broadband.
When contacted by The Badger Herald, George Twigg, communications director for Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, said he could not comment on the contract termination, and did not know if the city would be taking an active part in finding a new Internet service provider.
Schenker said ResTech plans on giving notice of the cancelation this Friday. Those affected will have until the end of May to find a new Internet service provider.
"It won't affect students during finals," Schenker said. "They won't have to worry about what to do during that stressful time."
Steve Henson (April 18, 2007 @ 9:38am):
Well that blows. I wouldn't have been surprised if the providers bailed anyway. The network rarely works and they couldn't fix it since they didn't own it. I canceled after about a week.
Anonymous (April 18, 2007 @ 12:26pm):
I'd say it's a loss, but you'd actually need it to work in the first place. Wireless sucks.
Anonymous (April 18, 2007 @ 1:16pm):
And so begins the end of another municipal wireless project... politicians will never learn.... it doesn't work...
Anonymous (April 18, 2007 @ 5:44pm):
I think it's a problem with WiFi as a technology. I had problems keeping a connection, but also saw a bunch of other networks in the area. My only guess is that unless WiFi can deal with interference, it will never work.
Anonymous (April 19, 2007 @ 2:52pm):
That's what happens when you pick the cheapest proposal without actually looking at what is being offered for the price you are paying. The city took the cheap way out, rather than looking at better thought out-but more expensive proposals. It's a clear example of how requiring the lowest priced proposal in a bid situation doesn't always benefit the government organization. It wasn't an impossible task to get better wireless coverage-though it was not an easy task, and it not a 100% successful technology.
Anonymous (April 19, 2007 @ 6:47pm):
The customer service for this thing was terrible. They people you pay can't do jack about it, but they people who run it don't seem to care to fix it.
Anonymous (April 23, 2007 @ 10:29pm):
I think the Wifi network was a bit misunderstood - it was originally meant to be a network that people could access freely throughout the city like a cellphone service, but most people expected it to work perfectly in every residence no matter what. Still, if it's not what Madison was looking for, the city government should look at scrapping the whole project and bringing in Wi-Max - much better range and dependability than Wifi, and I think it'd be a lot closer to what Madison was expecting.
- Michael J
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