Covering town with wireless network involves more poles

Superfast wireless coming to Crested Butte?

Covering the entire town of Crested Butte with a so-called advanced wireless mesh network would involve adding 21 new poles around the community, each about the size of a 40-foot tall telephone pole. They would be located primarily in the newer sections of Crested Butte where utilities have been buried and there are no existing poles. The Crested Butte Town Council gave the thumbs-up to the preliminary concept at their December 21 meeting.

Internet Colorado owner Jason Swenson has been pursuing federal stimulus grant money to help pay for such a network. The system would be built on a fiber optic frame that gives computers the fastest Internet connections available and casts a wireless web across the entire community.
To cover the whole area, Swenson estimates about 70 access points would be needed. The transmitters could be placed on current poles or public buildings in some cases, but some areas of town would need to install new above-ground poles.
Town councilperson Reed Betz said adding more poles in town might be a problem with the public. “The public won’t be that psyched about it,” he predicted. “More poles could impact viewsheds.”
Swenson explained there could be no more than about 400 linear feet between poles in order to power the network into area buildings.
“This is a plan for the future,” he explained. “It would cover the entire town and allow for extremely fast connections. Mobile devices could tap into it.”
“I think a lot of people are excited about bringing this to Crested Butte,” said councilmember Dan Escalante. “I don’t anticipate a lot of pushback with the poles. I feel confident they won’t be horribly placed.”
Councilperson Phoebe Wilson agreed, saying “A lot of people in the community are doing their work through the Internet and this would be a big boost. That aspect of people living here is definitely growing.”
Town Manager Susan Parker said she wanted to get a feel about whether adding poles to town would be a deal breaker. “Right now, we haven’t been talking a lot of details,” she said. “If the poles kill the idea we don’t want to put a lot of work into the concept and get shut down at the end.”
Mayor Leah Williams said bringing a mesh network to town was a big advantage. “I think the public benefit is there. This type of bandwidth is important to the community and this would provide that.”
“I agree that the benefits certainly outweigh the costs of the additional poles,” added Betz.
Local resident Corey Bryndal said he was a supporter of the idea but said continuing to have a choice of Internet providers was important.
Swenson said the network would provide a much stronger, quicker signal than what is currently available but a provider choice would remain.
The majority of the council wanted to move forward with the concept. Councilperson John Wirsing said he had some concerns with the impact of the high power needed for the network and privacy issues.
“These things give off lots of power,” Wirsing explained. “I don’t know the effects of this beaming into houses 24 hours a day. What’s the long-term impact? I don’t know. I’d also like to hear from a competitor. I’m just not ready to move forward yet.”
Swenson estimates residents would pay about $18 per month to tap into the network.