Sun Valley Wi-Fi From Allen & Co

By Contributing Writer, 7-11-07

The City of Ketchum, with a grant from Allen & Company, will move forward with plans to launch an outdoor municipal Wi-Fi project to provide free broadband Internet access in the Ketchum commercial core. They are announcing this coinciding with their annual Sun Valley event bringing in leaders from throughout the business world.

The project, which is expected to be owned and operated by “Wood River Community Wi-Fi”, a to-be-established nonprofit entity, will allow those people living in and visiting Ketchum - whether for a week or an afternoon - to stay connected while enjoying our quality of life. The wireless network will also be a benefit to local economic development practices.

The creation of Wood River Community Wi-Fi comes after months of planning and volunteer efforts. Spearheaded by (author of this piece)Heidi Dohse, with encouragement and support from the City of Ketchum and the Ketchum Community Development Corporation (KCDC), it has big plans for the provision of Wi-Fi services throughout our valley.

At a Ketchum City Council meeting on June 26th the Council decided that it did not have enough funds in its 2007 budget to move forward with the proposed Wi-Fi project this year. The decision was made to delay the project and review the approximately $100,000 cost for installation and 12 months of network support in its 2008 budget deliberations.

“When we read that the Ketchum Wireless project was on hold for budget reasons, we called Mayor Randy Hall to find out how we could help” said Mandy Tavakol of Allen & Company. “The Ketchum Community Wireless project will help bridge the digital divide for those without access to the internet and provide creative opportunities to connect to the global economy for those that do.” Allen & Company has had strong ties to the Wood River Valley for many years and has given back to the community in many ways. This grant to the Ketchum Community Wireless project is just another example of their contribution to our community.

With the grant from Allen & Company, Wood River Community Wi-Fi expects to launch service in Ketchum by the end of the year. Allen & Company have also indicated a willingness to fund the installation of a Wi-Fi network in the City of Hailey.

“On behalf of the City Ketchum, I want to thank Allen and Company for this gift” said Mayor Randy Hall. “It’s exciting to see Ketchum become a progressive digital community. We want to be a city that leads the way in developing innovative partnerships to increase access to technology.”

“Truly when you least expect it, great things happen” said Heidi Dohse in response to the meeting with Mandy Tavakol and Jeff Williams of Allen & Company.

“This is a wonderful surprise for the City of Hailey and we look forward to reviewing this exciting opportunity for our community” said Jim Spinelli, Hailey City Administrator.

The “Ketchum Community Wireless project” will facilitate the testing of wireless equipment, devices and applications in a field environment that will be available for new wireless technology development in the areas of environmental conditions, economic development, City Services and Digital Convergence Initiatives.