Agenda - 09-16-2014 - 6a - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 20 Michael Talbert said the County was not part of the original discussions, but they may be able to piggy back this. Craig Benedict said a side benefit of a rural grant would be to pull redundant connections from near those economic development zones. He said one of these is being considered in the Efland area, because there is something available near 1 -85. Chair Jacobs said this was a big part of the discussion of the Efland Mebane small area planning group. He said he wants to make sure the County can get to the table for these opportunities that are opening up. Michael Talbert said this is possible, but only in the areas where it works and not in the rural areas. Commissioner Dorosin asked if all County owned buildings could provide free Wi -Fi like the towns do. Jim Northup said this can be done; it is just a matter of money. He said the infrastructure will still have to be paid for in the rural areas where there is no internet service. He said all of the County buildings served by the County network proper have public Wi -Fi service. He said the penetration for this is only a couple of houses away. He said staff can come up with the numbers to put broadcast equipment on this. Commissioner McKee said he would like to see those numbers. Jim Northup asked what kind of wireless the Board is talking about. He said he is talking about wireless access in public areas like this meeting room that does extend into the parking lot. He said penetration in neighborhoods is different. Craig Benedict said it would be good to have a hot spot in the Cedar Grove parking lot. Jim Northup said staff is already working with elections on wireless for curbside voting, so this would be easy enough. Commissioner Dorosin said he would like to figure out how to get the biggest boost. He said students in the County I -pad program cannot use the I -pads at home. He said if there is a place near the students' house to provide free Wi -Fi, this would be the goal. He wants to think about ways to bridge the digital- divide. He said this availability could be advertised. Jim Northup said there are already people using the County wireless, but this could be advertised better. Commissioner Dorosin suggested use of the DSS building, which has a large parking lot. Michael Talbert said staff can investigate this for several of the major facilities to see what the cost is. Clarence Grier said there are appliances and antennas that can be placed outside the building to enhance the wireless. He said staff will bring back information on this. Commissioner Price said at one point the wireless companies had worked it out with state legislature so that Counties could not provide free Wi -Fi to the whole community. She asked if the outside antennas would be a problem. Jim Northup said his understanding is that this would be allowed under the contract with Time Warner. Commissioner Price asked if it would be feasible to work with the Town of Hillsborough to reach more people. Jim Northup said the town of Hillsborough does not have an IT department, and this is subcontracted. He said he would be happy to work with the contact on this. He said he can explore this possibility. He said there are network connections that permeate through that area and there is still an ability to deliver network service. Commissioner Price said she would like to create a clear network signal from the County.