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San Leandro Commercial Broadband Strategy <br />9. Downtown San Leandro Hotspots <br />Downtown San Leandro has a higher density of small businesses and a higher amount <br />of foot traffic and retail activity than the other three <br />identified under /unserved areas. <br />Problematic wireless connectivity was cited in the <br />research conducted for this study as an issue for <br />Downtown San Leandro businesses. Improving public <br />broadband availability can overcome this problem and <br />potentially create a competitive advantage for existing <br />business and an incentive for business considering <br />relocating to Downtown San Leandro. <br />9.1. Recommendation 6: limited, free WiFi <br />One solution is to install outdoor WiFi access points at key locations, connect it to <br />existing City fiber or other network infrastructure and offer free, unsupported service. <br />Depending on the type of area and the equipment required, these kinds of hotspots can <br />cost from less than $1,000 to about $6,000 each to build, plus the cost of network <br />access. <br />Operating costs (exclusive of connectivity) are generally less than $1,000 per location <br />per year, sometimes considerably less. The cost of Internet connectivity could range <br />from a high of around a $1,000 per location per year down to very little, if existing <br />resources such as Lit San Leandro fiber and shared Internet bandwidth could be brought <br />into play. <br />The City could play several different roles in the project, for example owning and <br />operating it outright, coordinating an opt -in program funded by local merchants or <br />including it in the scope of a public improvement district. Providing fiber connections to <br />hotspots or arranging for Internet bandwidth sharing are other roles the City could play. <br />16 July 2012 TellusVenture Associates Page 36 <br />