Shoppers on Victoria Street downtown and visitors to some Kamloops parks and city buildings could soon have access to free wifi without having to duck into the nearest coffee shop.
City council will consider on Tuesday, Feb. 25, a proposal from Shaw Communications that would see the company install 74 wifi modems in city buildings and on selected light poles.
Tony Klancar, the city’s IT manager, said 32 of the modems would be placed in public buildings, such as the Tournament Capital Centre and Interior Savings Centre.
The remaining 42 modems would be placed in outdoor locations.
“It’s mostly in places where people gather,” Klancar said, naming the city’s main downtown street as one site identifed for the proposed wifi hotspots.
Shaw and the city both have existing community wifi programs in Kamloops.
Shaw has various hotspots downtown that can only be accessed by the company’s customers.
The city has about 30 free wifi hotspots of its own in various buildings, but a report by Klancar to council notes the system is sometimes over capacity when major events — Kamloops Blazers games or concerts at ISC, for instance — are taking place.
“During large events, upwards of 1,000 simultaneous connections can be requested, which overloads the system,” Klancar said in the report.
If too many people connect, the city’s other web-dependant services, including dispatch for Kamloops Fire Rescue, could become overwhelmed.
Shaw’s plan would allow the city to offer broader coverage without that worry, Klancar said.
Unlike the city’s own wireless hotspots, which cost $1,300 per modem, the Shaw deal has a much smaller price tag.
The company is offering Kamloops one of two deals.
The first, which staff are recommending, would see Shaw provide wireless Internet free of charge to all users in exchange for access to light poles and buildings.
The city would provide power for the modems, at a cost of about $1,100 per year.
Alternatively, the city could charge Shaw a small fee — about $16,000 a year — to access its facilities, but the company would also bar non-Shaw customers from using the hotspots.
Klancar said by going with the free-for-all model, the city will be able to move its own modems to areas the company won’t be covering, or repurpose some of them for internal use.
“It’s an exciting proposal,” he said. “It’s something a lot of citizens have wanted.”
Shaw has made similar proposals to communities across Western Canada.
In B.C., Kelowna and Vernon have taken the company up on the free hotspots, while Nanaimo plans to charge the company for access.
