A company vying for the right to provide the city of Charleston's municipal wireless network had an opportunity recently to showcase its capabilities as a critical communications link during a disaster.BelAir Networks, working with US Internet Corp., scrambled to augment its existing Wi-Fi coverage around the Interstate 35 bridge in Minneapolis after the bridge collapsed earlier this month.

Although the municipal Wi-Fi long has been considered little more than a convenient way for individual subscribers to access the Internet for such routine activities as e-mail downloading and online shopping, the critical minutes after the disaster morphed the network into a vital communications tool, especially for rescue workers.

Soon after the collapse, Web cameras were up, providing a clear view for emergency responders. Average users also found the network to be a quick way around clogged cellular networks. Within an hour, network administrators had altered the paid access requirements and opened the network to all. Usage rose about sixfold over 48 hours.

"That situation really demonstrated the thoughtfulness the city leadership in Minneapolis had put into that project," said Jim Freeze, senior vice president of marketing and alliances for BelAir. "They made a conscious decision that this network would be important, not only for economic development but also for public safety. They made sure they chose the right technology that was reliable and scalable in terms of bandwidth and capability."

"Their forward-looking thinking paid off in the case of the emergency. They had something in place when they needed it."

Emergency responder model

The impromptu support the network provided in Minneapolis is being touted as the model for emergency-related Wi-Fi use. Lynn Willenbring, chief information officer for the city of Minneapolis, said without high-speed access, municipal leaders likely would have been printing out maps and distributing them by hand. Instead, officials were able to access servers and geographical information system maps via laptops, which Willenbring said was "absolutely essential to our ability to respond."

BelAir is on the short list of companies being considered for the wireless network that would encompass the Charleston peninsula. Although the company does not market specifically to emergency needs, Freeze noted that "a broadband network certainly would have been useful during the fire (at the Sofa Super Store in June)."

BelAir is "in the final stages of being considered, and we certainly hope to be working with Charleston on this," Freeze said.

Implementation of the technology depends on logistics, Freeze said. "There are a number of things that have to happen during an installation," he said. If the network is being installed on light poles, a permitting process must be followed.

"The issue tends not to be the availability of the equipment but rather the process of getting things done," Freeze said. "And that's good news relative to who we're partnering with."

In terms of security, Freeze said there are industry standards for Wi-Fi security as well as different levels of security that typically are implemented, including technology for virtual private networking, encryption and administrator access codes. "We include every possible security measure we can," he said.