Janesville Citywide Wifi

Communities in Rock County, Wisconsin joined together in August 2006 to form a Joint Citizen Committee exploring the feasibility of Wireless in Rock County. The two major cities were the City of Beloit and the City of Janesville. The Joint Committee, in conjunction with the staff the City of Beloit and the City of Janesville were interested in creating a network that would make it possible for residents, businesses, local governments, and other public and private organizations to take advantage of existing and new wireless broadband technologies.

The group sought submittals from qualified companies, to design, implement, operate, and maintain a “fee for service” wireless broadband network for residents, businesses and other public or private organizations that desire such service. The responding vendors should have demonstrated experience in rural scale wireless broadband networks, particularly with designing, implementing, operating, and maintaining such networks.

The following were the project’s objectives:

• To provide seamless and reliable wireless broadband access to the Internet for residents and businesses throughout Rock County.
• To create and sustain a public/private business model to provide an affordable “fee-based” wireless broadband network.
• To support economic development, particularly the recruitment and retention of businesses that rely on broadband connectivity to the Internet.
• To develop and introduce wireless broadband technology to local government operations in order to increase productivity and enhance the quality of service delivery.
•  To establish a wireless broadband network that serves the cities of Beloit and Janesville without being burden on its taxpayers.

To date, this project has not come to fruition.