As legislators in the General Assembly consider creating a center that may support a future statewide wireless network, Brown continues to provide bandwidth to a group that has already implemented pilot programs around the state.
Rep. Amy Rice, D-Dist. 72, has introduced legislation in the state legislature to create a technology center that may support statewide wireless. Meanwhile, the Business Innovation Factory and the Economic Development Corporation, both nonprofits, are already working to create a statewide wireless network - Rhode Island Wireless Innovation Networks.
The BIF is currently seeking funding from the state government - once it has received the funding it needs, it will take a year to a year and a half to set up permanent base stations throughout the state, according to the BIF's Web site.
Brown is one of several partners providing the project with the bandwidth necessary to support pilot programs. Two antennas on top of the Sciences Library have supported the pilot program since last May, said Tim Thorp, manager of communications and education at Computing and Information Services.
The pilot program that ran through December allowed Brown graduate students in the Master of Arts in Teaching program to use the network to teach in three local schools - the Hope High School complex, the Wheeler School and the Robert L. Bailey IV Elementary School, Thorp said.
Though the pilot is completed, the University still provides bandwidth for the Providence network, he said. Now, scientists and researchers will evaluate information gleaned from the pilot to see how they can improve the program when they begin to implement it statewide, Thorp said.
Elizabeth Huidekoper, executive vice president for finance and administration, said the University allows external groups to use its bandwidth if it thinks a certain program will make the best use of it. "It's like we have property, and someone wants to lease the space," she said. "What would they do with it if they had it, and would they do good things?"
Huidekoper said no money changed hands between the BIF or the EDC and the University.
"At the moment, that is the extent of Brown's involvement with the project. We plan to see how RI-WINs develops in the months ahead before making any firm commitments on our future participation," wrote Michael Chapman, vice president for public affairs and University relations, in an e-mail to The Herald.
Melissa Withers, communications director for the BIF, said the BIF will "continue to work with Brown to see how they want to be involved and what kind of usage they want students to have." If Brown chooses to participate in the project, the network may be helpful for students trying to access the Internet in remote places in Rhode Island, she said.
