ANN ARBOR – IT Zone member and Vice Chair, Rich Sheridan, continues to play an important role in the implementation of Wireless Washtenaw.
Rich, president and CEO of Menlo Innovations and David Behen, director of support services for Washtenaw County, started discussing the possibility of county-wide wireless Internet access in the fall of 2004. They have been serving on the steering committee for Wireless Washtenaw ever since. Just last month, less than two years later, the county Board of Commissioners approved 20/20 Communications, another IT Zone member, as its Internet service provider.
About 20/20 Communications
20/20 Communications was created from a merger between Ann Arbor Wireless and local Internet service provider IC.Net. Ann Arbor Wireless was best known over the last 20 years for its five retail stores which sell business and residential Internet service, mobile phones and calling plans. IC.Net had provided Internet services, such as high-speed T1 lines, to area businesses for the past 11 years. In February 2006, 20/20 also acquired Jackson-based PCS Broadband?s wireless assets and began offering and providing high-speed wireless access to its customers. For more information on 20/20 Communications, please 20/20Comm.Com
or telephone Robert Wolff at (734) 973-2020.
The contract is still being completed, but 20/20 can now begin official pilot tests of its technology and get plans rolling to start integrating part of the county into the network starting next month. The plan is to have widespread wireless Internet infrastructure by December 2007. Ann Arbor will most likely gain access first because of its customer density and proximity to the main 20/20 server.
The benefits of widespread wireless Internet access are many. Wireless Washtenaw will spur local businesses into creating new ways to use the infrastructure. Inventions that rely on wireless Internet would become commercially viable. The system will be an attractive feature for businesses considering relocation to this area. It will close the gap on the digital divide by providing basic Internet access for those who can?t afford it and for those who have limited options at their homes.
