A private vendor is attaching shoebox-sized radio transceivers to about 1,500 city streetlights. In exchange for letting California- based Metricom build its network in Chicago's right-of-way, the city will receive 2 percent of the company's annual revenues from Chicago subscribers. The city will also get 225 free subscriptions for wireless Internet service, for use by police, fire and other city officials.
The network of small streetlight radios, which tap the lights for power, is unique in the wireless communications business. A special modem on a user's laptop computer sends packets of data to the radios. The data is then relayed to a receiver that funnels the data into the telephone wires that hook up to the Internet.
For each streetlight it uses, Metricom generally pays an annual rent of $60 to the city or the electric utility--whichever owns the lights. While the transmitters are relatively small and noninvasive, some Chicago suburbs, such as Schaumburg, don't want them placed on decorative streetlights in their main shopping areas.
The Chicago area is part of the first wave of 12 cities to get the service, which is slated to begin this summer. In the fall, service in an additional nine cities is expected to be up and running.
