Downtown Wi-Fi Network Plan Still Stalled
EL PASO, TX. – A project approved back in January to bring free wireless internet service to downtown El Paso isn’tcompletely up and running.
One e-mailer sentABC-7a letter saying, “There was a big deal made about the internet being available for the community and as of yet there’s still no wireless downtown.” Technical experts say the wireless network has been running, just not at full capacity.
Many areas like the San Jacinto Plaza can not get a wireless signal. Experts say they hope to fix that problem soon.
Chances are ifone were totry and get a laptop computer to find a wireless internet signal in the downtown areait might not get much.
Technical experts expected to have theWireless-Fidelity or ‘Wi-Fi’ networkup and running sometime back in February. They say the delay is due to unexpected problems.
“As we’ve lit up the antennas, the coverages were a little different than we anticipated so we’ve had to do a lot of adjustments,” said El Paso City’sInformation TechnologyDirector Gary Gordier. He and CountyIT Director Peter Cooper are the two men responsiblefor the project.
They said another obstacle they’ve had toface is finding the appropriate power source for the wireless network.The twosaid the project has been running at 90% of its full capacity potential; something they call a “soft launch.”
“We haven’t made a full announcement because we are tuning it up, we are adjusting coverages so that we can get a full coverage in the area we’ve targeted,” said Cooper.
The wireless coverage would not only cover the downtown area, but neighborhoods East and West of downtown and as far South as the U.S.-Mexico border.
El Pasoans say they’re growing anxious. “A lot of people need to go in the internet here in the downtown plaza, and it’s not ready yet, so a lot of people are complaining,” said one Plaza visitor. “You have cities like San Diego all those border cities are getting up there and we’re kind of lagging behind,” said another woman.
The big question is when will this project be running at 100% capacity.IT experts say it should all be ready to go in about 2or3 weeks.
