[Symz]

Windsor is expanding it's free wi-fi zone downtown in the hopes it'll be one more thing to help make downtown more attractive.

source: http://windsorite.ca/2012/04/expande...-city-council/

The request by the Downtown Windsor Business Improvement Association to install wifi antennas on downtown street poles has been approved by City Council.

On Monday evening the request by Larry Horwitz, DWBIA president, to move the DWBIA’s 42 indoor antennas out on to city street poles to expand wifi coverage of the downtown area was approved.

The DWBIA has already spent $82,000 on the project since 2008 when it was implemented and plans to spend $20,000-$30,000 a year on the service which Horwitz says will take up to 2 years to fully implement.

“With the University coming downtown in the next couple years and the college expanding, with this city creating the aquatic center, which is going to be truly beneficial for downtown, and the wifi covering those areas we think that the wifi will be very important for the future of downtown.” said Horwitz

Horwitz says that it is important to move the system outside because with the units currently inside, when a business closes or moves out the system is turned off as well as the signal has trouble passing through the concrete inside the buildings.

“This is an initiative by the downtown DWBIA, they didn’t come to us and ask for money, they’re simply saying let us put it on the utility poles and we’ve already initiated the system in phase one we want to expand it,” said Ward 3 Coun. Fulvio Valentinis “It’s a great step forward in terms of attracting people downtown towards the businesses and as a place certainly to reside.”

“Carries.” said Mayor Eddie Francis.