Islandwide Wi-Fi is still a ways off, and one heck of a long shot if you consider other municipalities are dumping their Wi-Fi plans. But it looks like the plan is moving forward here.
Tomorrow Suffolk County Legis. Wayne Horsley and county communications czar Sharon Cates-Williams will meet at the county seat to discuss the two local pilot locations scheduled for build-out.
In Suffolk, the Wi-Fi network will be built along the Route 110 business corridor. And in Nassau, the area adjoining 
Museum Row and Hofstra University will get service.
Here’s the county’s wishful thinking:
Once completed, Wi-Fi Long Island will be the largest municipal wireless network in the nation, providing wireless broadband access for approximately 1.5 million people, and the first among adjoining municipalities. Wi-Fi Long Island represents a unique public-private partnership constructed to enhance government service at minimal or no cost to the public.
It seems strange to me that the Suffolk DoIT web page “In the News” http://www.co.suffolk.ny.us/wireless/press.html is so lacking in anything interesting. The last update was October 2006. According to Mr Powderly’s post there is something going on – so why don’t they publish this stuff? It seems to me that it would be of interest to both the business community and citizens alike.
Who is E-Path? How can a start-up get one of the largest Wi-Fi contracts in the Country? Did all the other respondents pull out? Where is Clearwire? Where is Wimax?
Are our County Officials this inept? E-Path was formed in March of 2007, For Profit, Foreign Owned. No installs. No track record. Financials?
Butch Cassidy and Sundance “Who are those guys?”
The “Times of Smithtown On-Line” (link below) ran an article on 1/25 entitled “County’s wi-fi project getting nowhere fast”
that discusses current status of the Nassau/ Suffolk wireless project. They (the systems integrator “e-Path” and Suffolk) are still trying work out an agreement with LIPA for use of the utility poles along RT-110. The wifi access points are to be installed on the utility poles!
Folks, highway electrical maintenance contracting is VERY expensive. The cost of installing an antenna on a utility pole vs a public or private building is approximately 4 times the cost!
My thinking would be to install the wifi access points on the taller RT-110 BUILDINGS in the area as opposed to the utility poles, simply because access for installation and subsequent maintenance would be far less costly.
Times of Smithtown – http://www.timesofsmithtown.com/Articles-i-2008-01-24-69289.112114_Countys_wifi_project_getting_nowhere_fast.html