18 RFI Responses

'Wireless Washtenaw', the new county-wide initiative to blanket all of Washtenaw County with wireless Internet access, received eighteen (18) private sector responses to a Request for Information (RFI) that ended July 7th, 2005. The RFI forms the basis for the next step for Wireless Washtenaw - a Request or Proposals (RFP) that will identify private sector partners to deploy and support the Wireless Washtenaw network.

The responses brought in a number of collaborations among different wireless providers seeking to ensure county-wide coverage. The complete list of responders are: Air Advantage, Every://WARE, Freedom Wireless, Michigan Broadband Systems, Michtel, Motorola, NeoReach OpAve, PCS, Provide.Net, Quality Technologies, RFconnect, SBC, Siemens, SkyTel, Tropos, Washtenaw Wideopen Wireless (Cybernet, Synergy Broadband and IC.Net), and Wireless Resources (Nortel, Compuware and Airpath).

"I’m thrilled by the response from the private sector as this further demonstrates the collaborative nature of our initiative," says Rich Sheridan of the Ann Arbor IT Zone and Chair of the Wireless Washtenaw Communications & Marketing Sub-Committee.

A number of Wireless Washtenaw sub-committees are reviewing the RFI responses to create the RFP which will be issued in late August or early September. Local municipalities will soon be solicited to host pilot projects around the County.

David Behen, Washtenaw County’s Director of Information Technology sees the strong interest from the private sector as a future predictor of success. "The exciting aspect of this high number of RFI responses is seeing that the time has finally arrived for true government, business and education partnership."