Friday, Aug. 12, 2005 | ||
Bad Links? | City to offer free wi-fi at three rec venuesBy JOHN MUNFORD Peachtree City residents will soon be getting a little wireless Internet access with their recreation. Three recreation areas will have free wi-fi access thanks to a $14,000 appropriation from the City Council last week. The access will be available at the Kedron Fieldhouse, the Peachtree City Tennis Center and the Ga. Highway 74 South Baseball and Soccer Complex. Councilman Stuart Kourajian cast the sole vote in opposition to the initiative. He said the money for public Internet access should come out of tourism funds and not the councils contingency fund, but he had no problem with creating wireless access points for city employees. Theres a very small percentage of residents who will get to see a benefit out of it, but all the residents are paying for it, Kourajian said. Kourajian said the ability to access the Internet might distract parents from enjoying their childrens sporting events they came to watch. Councilman Steve Rapson said when he coached recreation league soccer, he had some parents who had to rush home to do work on a computer connection who could have just stayed at practice had such a wireless Internet network been in place. The actual cost for the public access is just under $8,400, with the remainder of the tab for the wi-fi networks at those facilities that will be used by city staff. Matt Robinson, the citys system administrator, noted that the separate networks for staff could be used by the police, fire and code enforcement departments which can now perform such tasks as transmitting files wirelessly back to their main offices. The three areas chosen were selected partly due to their popularity and to their proximity to high-speed wireless Internet connections. It will be important to train existing staff at each venue on how to help citizens connect to the network, Robinson said. Those using wireless Internet near the transmitting equipment will achieve transfer speeds of about 54 megabits per second, which is considerably faster than DSL speeds, Robinson noted. Councilman Murray Weed said he thought the project would be good for everybody, and he noted that the citys Tourism Association doesnt have the funds to do it. Funds for the project will come out of the council contingency fund.
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