WiFi @ City of Miami Beach

COVERAGE AREA

While one key element of the WiFi Miami Beach system is to support public safety and other government uses, such as laptops in police cars, it also makes the entire city a hot zone for public internet access. The contract provides that at least 95% of the City will have outdoor WiFi coverage and at least 70% of the City will have indoor coverage up through the second floor of a building. It is important to point out that the second floor limitation is a necessary contract term and that, in fact, the limit of how high the WiFi signal travels is basically governed by physics and where the WiFi equipment is mounted throughout the City. There may be places where the signal may be received higher than the second floor.

There is, however, a way for high-rise buildings to distribute the City’s WiFi signal up to the higher floors that would be beyond the reach of the City’s WiFi. After the City’s WiFi system is operational, IBM will be offering solutions that distribute the WiFi signal to all the floors within a building. To ensure that everyone has the opportunity to receive a signal, the City negotiated a 25 percent discount on labor and materials for those high-rise buildings that wish to utilize IBM to bring the WiFi signal to the units above the second floor.