If Rep. Amy Rice, D-Dist. 72, has her way at the General Assembly, Rhode Islanders could be the first Americans to benefit from a free statewide Wi-Fi network.
Introduced last month in the state House of Representatives, Rice's bill - the Electronic Telecommunication Open Infrastructure Act - does not specifically call for the installation of a Wi-Fi network, but rather it would create a state innovation center to oversee improvements to the Ocean State's telecommunications systems that could include such a system. The center, which would be a part of the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation, would also finance the development of related technologies.
As legislators consider Rice's bill, the Business Innovation Factory, a nonprofit that began pilot wireless programs last spring in Newport and Providence, is expanding its free Wi-Fi system to Foster. The BIF hopes to create a border-to-border wireless network, and though BIF and Rice are not collaborating, they share similar goals.
Brown has partnered with BIF in implementing its network, called Rhode Island Wireless Innovation Networks, said Melissa Withers, communications director of BIF. Because of the partnership, BIF has two base stations on the roof of the Sciences Library, Withers said.
Withers said the BIF network, called RI-WINs, is completely separate from Rice's legislation. "I'm not sure how much Rep. Rice knew about RI-WINs until recently," she said. "Rice has proposed that she wants to open a center of excellence. ... She's not proposing building a network."
But Withers added that BIF supports Rice's endeavors. "We think she's got the right idea," she said. "She was trying to raise the level of consciousness in the General Assembly."
"The goal is to make Rhode Island be the first state fully Wi-Fi," Rice said of the proposed innovation center bill, which is modeled after similar legislation in West Virginia.
A statewide Wi-Fi network would "narrow the digital divide between those with Internet access and those without," Rice said. Younger people, and especially college students, are more likely to have access to Internet, Rice said, leaving older people at a disadvantage.
There are currently 68 municipal Wi-Fi networks throughout the country but none in Rhode Island, Rice said.
"Nationally, the Internet penetration rate is only about 60 percent, so more than a third of Americans are outside this technology revolution," said Professor of Political Science Darrell West.
Rice said Wi-Fi legislation in Rhode Island and other states has met opposition from telecommunications companies who could lose business if the system is implemented. "That's like Borders and Barnes and Noble saying we can't have a library," she said. "I think competition's good."
Rice said she does not know how much a Wi-Fi system would cost. The state of Maryland considered implementing statewide Wi-Fi and determined it would cost $2 million, Rice said.
Rice's 2006 visit to Taiwan, where the capital city of Taipei has gone Wi-Fi, spurred her vision of statewide Wi-Fi.
West said he supported the bill because he thinks closing the "digital divide" is an important issue.
"It will open up opportunities for government, commerce and entertainment," he said. But West added that determining whether Wi-Fi service should be a publicly managed service funded by taxes or a private sector venture is complicated. West said Rhode Islanders might ask themselves, "Is access to technology important enough that everybody should pay?"
While some students supported statewide Wi-Fi, others doubted the viability of the logistics.
"I personally think it's pretty cool," said Christina Kim '07, who said statewide Wi-Fi was a progressive idea. "Maybe it's possible because it's such a small state." But she said it is doubtful that it would be possible on a nationwide level, "especially in states that are more rural."
Owen Strain '08 said implementing statewide Wi-Fi might be more likely once advancements have been made in wireless Internet technology.
"I don't think that it's very technologically feasible to do it well with the current technology," he said. "Witness (Computing and Information Services) putting wireless in the dorms. It doesn't work in my dorm or in my friends' rooms. ... The technology isn't robust enough."
While she hopes the bill will pass, Rice acknowledged the chances were slim this time around. "I'm not going to be foolish and think it's going to pass this year," she said. "More often than not good legislation takes some time to pass."
