`pro-lifers' Should Back Rehiring Of Pregnant Unmarried Teacher

Airport's Restaurant, Bar To Cost $1.2 Million/ Exclusive The New Facility
Might Be Leased To The Operator Of The Existing Restaurant.

By JON FOX jfox@leader.net
 Saturday, December 03, 2005 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 1A 





WILKES-BARRE - An Internet service provider plans to blanket broad swaths
of downtown with a wireless network independent of the Leighton
administration's bid to create citywide Wi-Fi. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 PenTeleData, a Carbon County-based provider of broadband Internet service,
intends to create two Wi-Fi zones covering the campuses of Wilkes University
and King's College and surrounding off-campus housing. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; A quarter of the network should be online by the end of December and the
entire network will be operational by March, said Dan Ellis, chief technical
officer of PenTeleData. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The company was among those responding to the city's solicitation for
proposals to create a 7 square-mile network. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But Ellis says the company's response likely didn't satisfy the city's
expectations, and that's mainly because the company saw no money in the plan. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "We couldn't find a traditional means to make it profitable for the whole
seven miles," Ellis said. "Our original plan was to do hot spots ourselves,
and if we could work with the city we'd like to." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Public Square and Kirby Park are already covered by Wi-Fi transmitters
operated by PenTeleData, which provides broadband service to customers of
Service Electric Cable. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 More than 40 transmitters will service the two new college hot spots. The
wireless zones will stretch from Academy Street to West Market Street between
River and South Franklin streets, and from Union Street to West North Street
between North River and Main streets, Ellis said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 He said the company sees little demand for wireless Internet outside the
college areas. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 For PenTeleData, the Wi-Fi network becomes a service add-on and a bid to
pull customers away from Verizon, the area's other large provider of broadband
Internet access. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Customers who already connect to the Internet using PenTeleData will have
free access to the Wi-Fi network; others will be able to connect for a fee.
The company will offer free access for anyone into early 2006, Ellis said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The city and PenTeleData have very different conceptions of Wi-Fi
technology. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 PenTeleData is looking at Wi-Fi sort of like that tiny spare tire in the
trunk - it's nice to have but you wouldn't want to drive cross country on it.
It's not a suitable replacement for the wired broadband access that is
currently available, Ellis said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Wi-Fi can't match the speed of Internet access piggybacked over cable
lines, but it is generally faster than DSL access over phone lines. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The city, however, seeks to create a Wi-Fi network that residents can
subscribe to as their sole means of access. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 PenTeleData, with its hardwired network in place, is disinclined to build a
citywide Wi-Fi network. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "It would be competing with ourselves," Ellis said. "Why do I want to build
a network that I've already built?" &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 This summer, Mayor Tom Leighton announced his intention of creating a
citywide Wi-Fi network. In October, telecommunication firms submitted
proposals to build the network. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Since then city officials have been quiet about any possible negotiations
as they try to meet a Dec. 31 deadline to get parts of a network online. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Under state Act 183, passed late last year, the city faces a statutory
deadline to have a Wi-Fi web - at least in bare bones form - in place by the
end of this year. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 If the city fails, officials must seek permission from Verizon, the
incumbent telephone provider, before proceeding with a municipal Wi-Fi plan. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Officials have said they believe construction of the network would take as
little as a month, but November is gone and there is still no announcement. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 City Administrator J.J. Murphy has suggested Verizon will not push the
issue if the Dec. 31 deadline isn't met and says the city will not be rushed
into a bad decision. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

2nd Wi-fi Plan On Way To City/ Exclusive Penteledata Wants To Cover Parts Of Wilkes-barre With Its Wireless Service.