NC Business Journal | Azulstar Backs Out of WinstonNet Wireless Initiative

. . . Michael Calabrese, director of the Wireless Future Program at the New America Foundation think tank in Washington, D.C. said the lure of non-taxpayer financing has proven strong, but not realistic.

Municipal wireless "is very viable, but what's come into question is this corporate franchise model that is premised on a free lunch for taxpayers," Calabrese said. "Where cities have embraced municipal wireless as a public service or a means to achieve greater efficiencies, it's working fine."

Calabrese pointed to St. Cloud, Fla. as an example, where he said the city paid to install a network and hired a private company to operate it, calculating that money saved from efficiencies like automated meter reading and streamlined building permit applications would make the money back over time. About 70 percent of the adult population of St. Cloud uses that network, Calabrese said. . .