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GCN Home > 08/27/07 issue

Call and Response

After bridge collapse, Minneapolis’ fledgling Wi-Fi network opened lines of communication

By Trudy Walsh, GCN Staff

Minneapolis’ municipal Wi-Fi network is still in the early months of deployment, but it passed a severe first test with flying colors.

A half-hour after the Interstate 35 bridge collapsed in Minneapolis this month, cellular networks in the Twin City area went dead.

It wasn’t calls to 911 or any part
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“We could give [rescue workers a GIS] map and say, ‘This is where you need to go.’ ” — Lynn Willenbring, Minneapolis
icular carrier that jammed the system. “Everyone got on their cell phone,” said Lynn Willenbring, Minneapolis’ chief information officer. “My family was calling too, checking to see if I was OK.”

Joe Caldwell, co-founder of US Internet, the vendor for the city’s wireless network, tried to call city offices on his cell phone to offer help, but he couldn’t get through. So Caldwell decided to open the city’s municipal Wi-Fi network for 12 hours and alerted local TV and radio stations that the service would be free. The usual monthly cost for residential subscribers is $19.95.

People with Wi-Fi-enabled laptops or other devices could send instant messages, video, photos or e-mail. The lucky few who had Wi-Fi-enabled phones could make voice calls via the network.

Traffic on the municipal Wi-Fi network spiked from 1,000 users to 6,000. Caldwell then decided to extend the free service to a total of 48 hours after the bridge collapse. US Internet added extra access points to accommodate the increased demand.

The municipal Wi-Fi gave rescuers access to the city’s geographic information system, which uses ESRI tools, Willenbring said. That access was crucial in getting maps to the command center set up along the Mississippi River banks.

Rescue workers rushed in from surrounding communities to offer aid. But because they weren’t familiar with the area, it was important for them to be able to reference the city’s GIS, Willenbring said. “That was tremendously beneficial, that we could give them a map and say, ‘This is where you need to go.’ ”

More news on related topics: Communications / Networks, Mobile & Wireless, State & Local



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