Thursday, February 07, 2008
City Council to consider free Wi-Fi at Loveland Sports Park
Parents who struggle to balance their business lives and their children’s sports schedules may catch a break. LP Broadband, a Loveland Internet provider, has put forth a proposed to provide free wireless Internet at the Loveland Sports Park. The resolution will go before the Loveland City Council for approval tonight.
If passed, the Wi-Fi installation, which takes only one day, will be finished as quickly as possible. The equipment will cost approximately $2,000, said Denise Montagu, the business development manager for LP Broadband.
Montagu of Loveland, proposed the idea to the city of Loveland in October, because she thought it would benefit her business and adults at the park who need constant Internet connections.
“My husband and I sit out at the Loveland Sports Park watching our kids play soccer and practice football,” Montagu said. “A number of times one of us is having (to use the Internet) to finish up work or send a quick e-mail.”
Other parents had also expressed interest to Montagu in having wireless signals at the park.
The connection will be free, but when people connect to the Internet, they will be brought to the LP Broadband home page.
“We get some advertising, people get an amenity, and everybody wins,” Montagu said.
One of the stipulations of installing the Wi-Fi is that it will be turned off when the park is closed.
“We don’t want to encourage people to be going there when it is not open just to get Internet service,” Montagu said.
The Wi-Fi access equipment will be located in the center of the park, and the signal will not be accessible outside the boundaries of the 76-acre park. Although Gary Havener, the Parks and Recreation director, hasn’t heard any feedback about the proposal from City Council members, Montagu expects it to pass, because there has been, “absolutely no opposition.”
If this project is successful, Montagu wants to offer free Wi-Fi at other gathering places like parks or golf courses. The project at the park will be easier to implement than the proposed fee-based Wi-Fi service in downtown Loveland that was discussed last year.
This is because service in the park will be in a smaller, defined area and free of charge, said Marilyn Hilgenburg, the administrative business manager for the city of Loveland Parks and Recreation Department.
“We’re not asking people to buy into the service. It’s not a utility type of access,” Hilgenburg said. Montagu said that offering the service for free is crucial to its success.
“People don’t want to pay (for the Internet connection) when they can go into any Internet cafe and pay $2 for a cup of coffee.”
By Marisa BeahmThe Reporter-Herald
If passed, the Wi-Fi installation, which takes only one day, will be finished as quickly as possible. The equipment will cost approximately $2,000, said Denise Montagu, the business development manager for LP Broadband.
Montagu of Loveland, proposed the idea to the city of Loveland in October, because she thought it would benefit her business and adults at the park who need constant Internet connections.
“My husband and I sit out at the Loveland Sports Park watching our kids play soccer and practice football,” Montagu said. “A number of times one of us is having (to use the Internet) to finish up work or send a quick e-mail.”
Other parents had also expressed interest to Montagu in having wireless signals at the park.
The connection will be free, but when people connect to the Internet, they will be brought to the LP Broadband home page.
“We get some advertising, people get an amenity, and everybody wins,” Montagu said.
One of the stipulations of installing the Wi-Fi is that it will be turned off when the park is closed.
“We don’t want to encourage people to be going there when it is not open just to get Internet service,” Montagu said.
The Wi-Fi access equipment will be located in the center of the park, and the signal will not be accessible outside the boundaries of the 76-acre park. Although Gary Havener, the Parks and Recreation director, hasn’t heard any feedback about the proposal from City Council members, Montagu expects it to pass, because there has been, “absolutely no opposition.”
If this project is successful, Montagu wants to offer free Wi-Fi at other gathering places like parks or golf courses. The project at the park will be easier to implement than the proposed fee-based Wi-Fi service in downtown Loveland that was discussed last year.
This is because service in the park will be in a smaller, defined area and free of charge, said Marilyn Hilgenburg, the administrative business manager for the city of Loveland Parks and Recreation Department.
“We’re not asking people to buy into the service. It’s not a utility type of access,” Hilgenburg said. Montagu said that offering the service for free is crucial to its success.
“People don’t want to pay (for the Internet connection) when they can go into any Internet cafe and pay $2 for a cup of coffee.”
By Marisa BeahmThe Reporter-Herald
# posted by LP Broadband High Speed Internet @ 8:13 AM 
