In September 2006, the city of Minneapolis inked an agreement with Internet hosting company US Internet to build a 60-square-mile WiFi network. As part of the 10-year contract, the city agreed to pay US Internet $2.2 million up front and $1.25 million a year so that city facilities and police and fire emergency services could become anchor tenants on the network.
Today, the network is 90 percent complete by vendor BelAir Networks--with over 3,000 access points--and is scheduled to be finished by year-end. USI offers a handful of monthly service plans for Minneapolis residents, starting at $20 per month for 1 Mbps service.
According to Sam Turner, customer support manager for USI Wireless, the company has more than 14,000 customers and expects to reach financial break-even by year-end.
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