THE CORPORATION OF THE CITY OF NELSON REQUEST FOR DECISON DATE: December 7, 2015 Regular Meeting TOPIC: Public WiFi PROPOSAL: Permit public WiFi at various public places PROPOSED BY: Staff _____________________________________________________________________ ANALYSIS SUMMARY: At the November Regular Meeting, staff introduced the opportunity of providing free public WiFi in City buildings and parks. Council referred the matter back to staff for further information which is presented in this report. BACKGROUND: At the November Regular Meeting staff were requested to gather more information on free Public Wifi as follows: Public Consultation Staff conducted a simple informal 2 question survey on the City’s Facebook Page.

1. Do you want to have access to free WiFi in public spaces (including parks)? 168 people responded, 126 are in favour (75%)

2. If free WiFi is made available in public buildings and parks in Nelson, will it matter to you whether the service is delivered by a private business or the City of Nelson? 168 people responded, 109 say it does not matter who provides the service (64.9%)

Feedback from Other Communities using Shaw GoWifi Staff received feedback from three municipalities that are currently using Shaw GoWifi with the following results:

• All are using Shaw Go Wifi as the provider of free public Wifi in their public spaces (buildings and parks) and all have separate City Wifi networks for staff.

• All had a positive experience working with Shaw during the installation of the network. Shaw was found to be “flexible” (listening to the needs of the City), “very organized”, “detail plan”.

• Implementation was completed in a professional, timely manner. • None went through a public process before providing the service, a demand by the

public was recognized by staff and using Shaw GoWifi was the most cost affective approach to fulfill the need.

• All indicated that public response since the service has been provided has been positive.

Public provided Wifi at NDCC and Nelson Library The Nelson Library existing city supported Wifi network was not designed to cover their new spaces effectively (quiet rooms encased in glass, basement) and cannot support the high usage requirements. In order to address the demands of the public, the existing Wifi service must be upgraded. Providing a City supported solution will cost approximately $6,000 and will require staff time for installation. The Shaw GoWifi solution will supplement the existing Wifi solution at the Library providing the increased service required at no cost to the City.

The NDCC has indicated they are in favour of Shaw providing adidtional public Wifi Services at their facility. The existing staff supported Wifi is facing challenges because it does not support current technology demands from the public. Their preference is to have Shaw equipment meet those demands rather than having to fund and support that technology in-house. BENEFITS OR DISADVANTAGES AND NEGATIVE IMPACTS: Access to free public WiFi is an increasing expectation of the public. Using SHAW to provide this service means that the City will incur neither capital costs to install the service nor ongoing costs to maintain the service. Maintenance of the service will include the need to upgrade equipment as technology continues to advance. City resources will not be used to provide customer service and support. Public Works (Parks) have provided their full support for provision of free public WiFI in the City parks. LEGISLATIVE IMPACTS, PRECEDENTS, POLICIES: It is within Council’s authority to provide this service to the public. COSTS AND BUDGET IMPACT - REVENUE GENERATION: Capital costs for implementation of the service and ongoing maintenance costs will be the responsibility of SHAW. City staff will be used for oversite of the installation and will not be responsible for ongoing customer support. Included is an attachment from the City’s Manager of IT and Fibre outlining costs and responsibilities if the City were to provide a free Wifi solution. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS: There may be concerns from some members of the public regarding radio frequency emissions. WiFi radio frequencies are emitted with such low power that according to Health Canada, they pose no health concern. The attached document titled “Safe Wireless Alternative” shows the amount of emissions provided by various products with the WiFi devices and access points on the lowest spectrum of the scale. Emissions from cellular devices are at the highest end of the spectrum and it should be noted that cellular connectivity is throughout the City including City parks where the public is already connecting electronically using their cellular network devices. Included is a sheet from Health Canada regarding frequently asked questions about Wifi. COMMUNICATIONS: SHAW will be notified of Council’s decision. Once the service is available, the public will be notified through the City’s website and Facebook page. OPTIONS AND ALTERNATIVES: 1. Approve installation of free public WiFi using SHAW as the service provider 2. Approve installation of free public WiFi using an alternate service provider 3. Do not approve installation of free public Wifi. 4. Refer to staff for further information ATTACHMENTS: • Comments from Managers/Operators of City Facilities • Statement from Shaw Communications • City of Nelson Wireless Solution

• Health Canada – Frequently Asked Questions about WiFi • WiFi information sheet RECOMMENDATION: That Council passes the following resolution: That Council approves the installation of free public WiFi in City public facilities and parks AND FURTHER That Staff is authorized to enter into an agreement with SHAW for provision of those services. AUTHOR: REVIEWED BY:

____________________________ ____________________________ DIRECTOR OF CORPORATE CITY MANAGER SERVICES

Shaw GoWifi – Comments from City Facilities Managers/Operators Library: As long as we remain on a high priority (as much as possible) to get our own wifi system going in here as it’s really impacting our member service. Our revenues are down significantly. Just wouldn’t want City Council to think it could be our sole service as it doesn’t begin to provide the level of service we require.

So yes we are in for this as one of the options for people to choose. It has very limited monthly usage allowance so not sure it’s a huge benefit but there is no downside.

June Stockdale Chief Librarian, Nelson Public Touchstones: As discussed, Touchstones Nelson would definitely be interested in being selected for a Shaw GoWifi installation. Currently, we only budget for Wifi in the basement archives for the convenience of our research clients. However, we would like to offer free Wifi to the public in our lobby area and to Society members and visitors in Galleries A and B. As part of our public program activity we often schedule talks and presentations in these spaces that require an internet connection. The lobby is a community meeting space and tourist hot spot - Wifi in this area would allow Touchstones Nelson and the City to offer residents and visitors alike a free place with good public hours to connect to the internet.

Thank you for considering Touchstones Nelson in your proposal. We look forward to being able to offer this service to the community.

Leah Best Executive Director, Touchstones Nelson Capital Theatre: When the Capitol has a contractual agreement for a hotspot at the Capitol, can this be cancelled when i.e. we would have patrons checking their phones in the theatre and distracting other patrons, or people want to use it i.e. in the lobby during a show which would could be potentially be interruptive?

Would be great to get a contact info for Shaw to inquire about a splash page or other advertising through. Thank you, and yes, we are in if above applies.

Stephanie Fisher Executive Director, Capital Theatre

Youth Centre: I have also discussed it with Fitz on the Programming side. And, while I have my own personal reservations, we are both comfortable with the proposal, and

I see the potential benefits of having the ‘free’ wifi in place, especially as we may choose to discontinue the Columbia Wireless service post Skills Link.

Jonny Salerno Coordinator, Nelson Youth Employment Centre

Civic theatre: On behalf of The Civic Theatre, I would like to give my support to the City of Nelson's non- exclusive partnership with Shaw GoWifi to offer free public internet in our facility. For us, the benefits of this service would be substantial, and complementary to our plan to have fibre connectivity in our facility as well. Free wireless service will offer our patrons a heightened level of connectivity. It will allow them to make better use of their phones, tablets and laptops during webinars and other learning opportunities in our venue, and will enable a new level of interactivity surrounding events taking place in our venue. Given our goal to facilitate greater connection and dialogue with people and communities through the streaming power of fibre optic, Shaw GoWifi will round out our capacity as a wired facility and position us to hold events and gatherings with more substantial technological capability in the future.

Eleanor Stacey Executive Director The Civic Theatre

Statement from Shaw Communications We currently have 92 agreements with municipalities in the Shaw Cable footprint from Sault Ste. Marie to Vancouver Island. Of the 92 agreements, 78 are guest access and the rest are commercial /paid agreements (this means Shaw pays the municipality a ‘rental fee’ and only Shaw customers can use the service). When we first started working with municipalities approximately four years ago, we only offered commercial agreements. Many municipalities accepted this offer and we entered into agreements with them. However, others wanted all residents to have access to WiFi within municipal facilities. At that time, we added a guest access offer and it has been very successful. In fact, approximately six of the 78 agreements were paid access and were recently converted to guest access. So, we still offer paid access but given it is minimal revenue to the municipality, most opt for guest access, including the communities recently converted to guest access.

In terms of success stories, there are many. I guess it depends on what you are looking for. We recently opened guest access to everyone during the fires in BC this past summer and for the floods in Manitoba last year. These are benefits Shaw provides to all members of the community in times of need, not just in municipal facilities. We also did this for the Winter Games in Prince George and, as you know, will do the same in Nelson for your Summer Games.

We’ve successfully deployed on the LRT stations in Calgary which had many ‘moving parts’ so to speak to coordinate and make happen. The service is hugely successful and highly used. This was a highly complex undertaking and could not have happened without a great partnership with the City of Calgary. There are numerous examples of finding creative solutions to provide Shaw Go WiFi in municipal buildings / locations.

For me, our biggest success is helping municipalities provide their citizens with free WiFi at no cost. It’s a great partnership for all involved – the City, it’s residents/visitors and Shaw. It helps reduce the digital divide at a very low risk to the City and gives access to WiFi for many people who might not otherwise have it.

Thanks, Shelly

Shelly Wiseman Director, WIFI, Government Access

Shaw Communications Inc. 22 Scurfield Blvd. Winnipeg, MB R3Y 1S5

T: 204-480-3575 C: 204-227-3472 F: 204-480-3540

E: shelly.wiseman@sjrb.ca

CITY OF NELSON WIRELESS SOLUTION COMMENTS FROM THE CITY’S MANAGER OF IT AND FIBRE ON A Here are some additional notes to consider, if the City was going to consider delivering a public wifi infrastructure: It is important to understand that delivering a public wireless infrastructure requires delivering a building network infrastructure, which the city is not currently in the business to do. Even the Dark fibre is only delivered to the building, no electronics are implemented and managed on top of that, the tenant is completely responsible for their own implementation, support and monthly fees. PLAN Wireless Project Scope: A public wireless infrastructure, delivered by the city, would largely depend on the number of access points that would be required/desired. It is unrealistic to assume that the City can provide public wireless coverage except in certain and limited number of locations, whereas Shaw already has many other hotspots to fill-in the coverage for public usage. Capital Costs: - NDCC’s wireless coverage for one building was $10K – this does not include plan, design,

mount, installation, support and wireless access point device replacements (every 3-5 years) - Library wireless upgrade – was estimated at $6k – this did not include design planning

(consultant), but the cost did include the AP installations (but not the wiring) - Youth Centre – Columbia Wireless provides the network and access point equipment,

included with the monthly wireless network fee, and the public gateway is isolated from the city network

- IT does not have network switches in city owned buildings, beyond buildings where staff is located, and therefore new switching equipment is likely required, unless the site’s switching equipment will allow the city access to manage their wifi devices - unlikely due to security and they have their own network service providers.

- A wireless networking specialist and project manager would need to be engaged to plan, design and deliver a public wireless infrastructure project – costs are unknown, but plan for a least one full month (1 week per site) for a dedicated person during the initial installation/configuration/activation. This person will need to interact with all building tenants/stakeholders.

Installations/Wiring: IT does not do wiring in city buildings… this would be outsourced to City electricians or subcontractors, adding to the expense and city staff involvement IT does not have special trucks and lifts that will be required to install these access points (mostly ceiling mounted) – this would be outsourced to city electricians or subcontractors, adding to the expense Monthly Fees for Organization using the WIFI:

- Each public WIFI site would need/use their own Internet gateway, since we cannot use the City’s CBBC gateway for public access, nor do we want independent organizations sharing city infrastructure (firewalls, gateways, switches, etc). Internet Fees range from $50 – 300 per month per site depending on data usage. Shaw includes the Internet gateway and equipment in their public solution that does not integrate with the organization and the organization will not incur any additional monthly fees.

Support Notes: - NDCC does not support its customers connecting to public WIFI, it either works on their system or it doesn’t. We would follow this model if we were to install the APS. - The Library staff and volunteers support their own customers connecting to WIFI, the IT dept does not get involved in any public wifi support issues on various devices – it works or it doesn’t - The Youth Centre supports its own customers connecting to WIFI… the extent of the support requirement is unknown, since it happens throughout the day

Shaw Go WiFi

Safe Wireless Alternative • WiFi radio frequencies are emitted with such low power that according to Health Canada, they

pose no health concern. Health Canada's position is that no precautionary measures are needed, since RF energy exposure levels from WiFi are typically well below Canadian and international safety limits.

• Shaw’s outdoor access points emit similar RF energy to a cordless phone, bar code scanner at the grocery store, or a baby monitor.

• More details can be found here at http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hl-vs/iyh-vsv/prod/wifi-eng.php • Health Canada produced a video in December 2010 that can be seen at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5OuxG6l4X4

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