Burnaby is careening closer to the future of fast access with its recent decision to improve Wi-Fi quality in the city.
Burnaby council approved, in principle, to work with thirdparty telecommunication companies to improve public Wi-Fi access at city facilities and rightsof-way.
"Existing commercial wireless networks must continue to evolve to meet customer demands for increased coverage and performance," said Shari Wallace, Burnaby's chief information officer, in her report to council. "Free wireless access has also become an expectation amongst members of the public when using government facilities."
Staff will work with Shaw to develop a plan and model agreement including a revenue structure for its Wi-Fi proposal. Staff is considering free public access or user-pay access routes.
"For cellular networks, staff proposes to work with telecommunication companies to assess the potential impact and implications of using city rights-of-way and light/utility poles to mount cellular infrastructure," Wallace said.
The review will determine the overall technical feasibility and consider the design, maintenance and cost options.
Up to now, the city has installed Wi-Fi at 14 sites, including city hall, libraries, community centres and sports facilities, free of charge to the public.
In this case, the city is responding to Shaw's proposal to install Wi-Fi access for Shaw customers in civic facilities and high network traffic areas throughout Burnaby.
Then staff issued a request for expressions of interest last October, open to all telecommunications companies, but no viable alternative was offered.
In April, Shaw updated its proposal to offer access to all citizens, including a free but reduced level of service for non-Shaw customers in terms of total data usage. The non-Shaw customers would be required to log in and provide user data, such as email, mailing address and phone number, according to Wallace.
Many municipalities across Canada either offer free public Wi-Fi or are piloting programs with Shaw, such as Edmonton, Winnipeg, New Westminster and the District of North Vancouver.
At the last council meeting, Coun. Sav Dhaliwal said he was concerned about giving preferential treatment to Shaw but was told by city manager Bob Moncur that the city would be open to offers from other providers.
Staff will report back to council when the review and terms of the user agreements are complete and "a course of action is defined."
