Professional Documents
Culture Documents
The NDCC has indicated they are in favour of Shaw providing adidtional public Wifi
Services at their facility. The existing staff supported Wifi is facing challenges because it
does not support current technology demands from the public. Their preference is to have
Shaw equipment meet those demands rather than having to fund and support that
technology in-house.
BENEFITS OR DISADVANTAGES AND NEGATIVE IMPACTS:
Access to free public WiFi is an increasing expectation of the public. Using SHAW to provide
this service means that the City will incur neither capital costs to install the service nor
ongoing costs to maintain the service. Maintenance of the service will include the need to
upgrade equipment as technology continues to advance. City resources will not be used to
provide customer service and support.
Public Works (Parks) have provided their full support for provision of free public WiFI in the
City parks.
LEGISLATIVE IMPACTS, PRECEDENTS, POLICIES:
It is within Councils authority to provide this service to the public.
COSTS AND BUDGET IMPACT - REVENUE GENERATION:
Capital costs for implementation of the service and ongoing maintenance costs will be the
responsibility of SHAW. City staff will be used for oversite of the installation and will not be
responsible for ongoing customer support.
Included is an attachment from the Citys Manager of IT and Fibre outlining costs and
responsibilities if the City were to provide a free Wifi solution.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS:
There may be concerns from some members of the public regarding radio frequency
emissions. WiFi radio frequencies are emitted with such low power that according to
Health Canada, they pose no health concern. The attached document titled Safe
Wireless Alternative shows the amount of emissions provided by various products with the
WiFi devices and access points on the lowest spectrum of the scale. Emissions from
cellular devices are at the highest end of the spectrum and it should be noted that cellular
connectivity is throughout the City including City parks where the public is already
connecting electronically using their cellular network devices. Included is a sheet from
Health Canada regarding frequently asked questions about Wifi.
COMMUNICATIONS:
SHAW will be notified of Councils decision. Once the service is available, the public will
be notified through the Citys website and Facebook page.
OPTIONS AND ALTERNATIVES:
1. Approve installation of free public WiFi using SHAW as the service provider
2. Approve installation of free public WiFi using an alternate service provider
3. Do not approve installation of free public Wifi.
4. Refer to staff for further information
ATTACHMENTS:
Comments from Managers/Operators of City Facilities
Statement from Shaw Communications
City of Nelson Wireless Solution
RECOMMENDATION:
That Council passes the following resolution:
That Council approves the installation of free public WiFi in City public facilities and parks
AND FURTHER
That Staff is authorized to enter into an agreement with SHAW for provision of those
services.
AUTHOR:
REVIEWED BY:
____________________________
DIRECTOR OF CORPORATE
SERVICES
____________________________
CITY MANAGER
Touchstones:
As discussed, Touchstones Nelson would definitely be interested in being selected for a Shaw
GoWifi installation. Currently, we only budget for Wifi in the basement archives for the
convenience of our research clients. However, we would like to offer free Wifi to the public in
our lobby area and to Society members and visitors in Galleries A and B. As part of our public
program activity we often schedule talks and presentations in these spaces that require an
internet connection. The lobby is a community meeting space and tourist hot spot - Wifi in
this area would allow Touchstones Nelson and the City to offer residents and visitors alike a
free place with good public hours to connect to the internet.
Thank you for considering Touchstones Nelson in your proposal. We look forward to being able
to offer this service to the community.
Leah Best
Executive Director, Touchstones Nelson
Capital Theatre:
When the Capitol has a contractual agreement for a hotspot at the Capitol, can this be cancelled
when i.e. we would have patrons checking their phones in the theatre and distracting other
patrons, or people want to use it i.e. in the lobby during a show which would could be
potentially be interruptive?
Would be great to get a contact info for Shaw to inquire about a splash page or other advertising
through. Thank you, and yes, we are in if above applies.
Stephanie Fisher
Executive Director, Capital Theatre
Youth Centre:
I have also discussed it with Fitz on the Programming side.
And, while I have my own personal reservations, we are both comfortable with the proposal, and
I see the potential benefits of having the free wifi in place, especially as we may choose to
discontinue the Columbia Wireless service post Skills Link.
Jonny Salerno
Coordinator, Nelson Youth Employment Centre
Civic theatre:
On behalf of The Civic Theatre, I would like to give my support to the City of Nelson's nonexclusive partnership with Shaw GoWifi to offer free public internet in our facility. For us, the
benefits of this service would be substantial, and complementary to our plan to have fibre
connectivity in our facility as well.
Free wireless service will offer our patrons a heightened level of connectivity. It will allow them
to make better use of their phones, tablets and laptops during webinars and other learning
opportunities in our venue, and will enable a new level of interactivity surrounding events
taking place in our venue. Given our goal to facilitate greater connection and dialogue with
people and communities through the streaming power of fibre optic, Shaw GoWifi will round
out our capacity as a wired facility and position us to hold events and gatherings with more
substantial technological capability in the future.
Eleanor Stacey
Executive Director The Civic Theatre
Each public WIFI site would need/use their own Internet gateway, since we cannot use the
Citys CBBC gateway for public access, nor do we want independent organizations sharing
city infrastructure (firewalls, gateways, switches, etc). Internet Fees range from $50 300
per month per site depending on data usage. Shaw includes the Internet gateway and
equipment in their public solution that does not integrate with the organization and the
organization will not incur any additional monthly fees.
Support Notes:
- NDCC does not support its customers connecting to public WIFI, it either works on their system
or it doesnt. We would follow this model if we were to install the APS.
- The Library staff and volunteers support their own customers connecting to WIFI, the IT dept
does not get involved in any public wifi support issues on various devices it works or it doesnt
- The Youth Centre supports its own customers connecting to WIFI the extent of the support
requirement is unknown, since it happens throughout the day
Shaw Go WiFi
12/3/2015