Mad City Broadband

Paige Besson

678-258-1500

Eve Galanter

608/238-0333, (c) 608/469-2796

“Mad City Broadband” On Track
Installation of First Radio Transmitter on City Property Scheduled

Madison – Louis Kek, CIO of Cellnet Technology, Inc. (Cellnet), today announced plans for installation of Mad City Broadband’s first radio transmitter on a city-owned traffic signal pole on Monday, February 6 at 1:30 p.m., at the corner of Main Street and Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. on the Capitol Square.

“This marks the official beginning of Cellnet’s development of a wireless (Wi-Fi) network for Madison,” said Kek. “We’re very excited to be playing a major role in making Madison one of the first cities of its size to go wireless. With great cooperation from city officials and staff and strong interest from throughout the community, we’re on track to complete the building of the first phase of Mad City Broadband by the end of March.”

Mayor Dave Cieslewicz will join Kek for brief remarks prior to the radio transmitter installation. Also scheduled to be present is Al Brown, Vice President, WFI. WFI, based in San Diego, CA, is managing the network engineering and systems integration for this project.

Cellnet recently received approval from the Madison City Council to install its equipment on traffic signal and street light poles in the Capitol Square area. MG&E had previously agreed to permit transmitters on their street light poles. Cellnet is partnering with WFI to build and manage Mad City Broadband. Mad City Broadband will operate a “wholesale” network infrastructure, i.e., all local internet service providers (ISPs) will be able to contract with Mad City and offer the high speed service to their subscribers for a fee.

Coverage for phase one of the network includes the downtown area, and extends to Highland Avenue on the west, the Yahara River on the east and the Beltline on the south. The Dane County Airport and the Alliant Energy Center will also be included. See attached map.

Camera Note: Installer will ride up in a “bucket” to attach the transmitter atop the traffic signal pole following brief program.