Stimulus could revitalize muni Wi-Fi, other stalled projects

Could $7.2 billion in federal funds committed to boost broadband in the U.S. transform small towns like Truckee, Calif., into the next Mumbai, India, filled with beehives of call centers that employ local residents? The federal money is seen by many broadband analysts as a critical means of building new or completing hundreds of stalled municipal Wi-Fi and other broadband projects nationwide. The money could definitely breath life back into the old, mostly failed municipal Wi-Fi movement that first came to life in 2004 and deteriorated to a terminal state last year, said Craig Settles, an analyst and president of consulting firm Successful.com. What's more, with a strong financial shot in the arm, rural towns and suburbs could begin offering broadband to attract companies in addition to offering lower office rents than those demanded in big cities, Settles said. That kind of economic growth in new locations could lure companies to build in the U.S., rather than moving jobs abroad, Settles said.