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47 °F Forecast | Road Cams Tuesday, April 20, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find a Rental Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Email Story to a Friend April 8, 2004 Cellular transmitters like these around Medford make up the backbone of a new high-speed data network for city and police business. Mail Tribune / Jim Craven Grant will help extend Medford’s wireless net By SARAH LEMON Mail Tribune A grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will help Medford expand a wireless information system developed by the Pentagon. The federal government awarded the city more than $675,000 to pay for extending its new high-speed wireless network. In the works since last summer, the system — which can beam video surveillance, photos, maps and other information to computers hooked into the network — should start fully operating within the next week, city officials said. Police and other city departments will use the network in daily operations. Medford officials say they have no plans to install video equipment. The federal grant will allow the city to push the network’s coverage area to its urban growth boundary, an area measuring approximately 28 square miles, said Doug Townsend, the city’s technology services director. The system now transmits roughly inside the city limits via 130 wireless nodes installed on street lamps, Townsend said. Medford is among the first few municipal governments in the nation to use the technology, developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and sold through Florida-based MeshNetworks Inc., said Ron Norris, Medford Police Department deputy chief. Advertisement Once connected to the network, computers become hubs for routing information. If some component breaks down, other parts of the system keep things moving, company officials say in marketing materials. More users make the network more efficient rather than slowing it down, and the design also enables the network to cover large areas, MeshNetworks said. City officials have said they expect to save more than $200,000 annually using the system, which amounts to the city owning its own wireless network instead of contracting with other providers. The capability to place telephone calls via computers is expected to cut cell phone use and save about $30,000. Public works crews can access network information on the job instead of having to return to the service center, saving on travel time, officials said. While the network has the capability to transmit video from surveillance cameras, officials stress that they have no plans to set up cameras to spy on city residents. During an emergency, they may access images from cameras already in place at banks and schools , Norris said. The city initially received approximately $500,000 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which operates under the Department of Homeland Security. The city set aside $210,000 from its general fund last year to finance the project’s first phase — installing the system’s main components and transmitters within city limits. The second phase —expanding the wireless system to the urban growth boundary — is all part of a 10-year plan to cover all of Jackson County with transmitters, Norris said. "So it’s the big picture here. It’s not just Medford," Norris said, adding that the system’s potential benefit to more than one government agency fulfills grant criteria. Jackson County administrator Sue Slack said the county is in favor of anything that improves communication between emergency service agencies, but said she doesn’t know how the new network will work with other communication devices in the county. The city has had no discussions with county officials about paying to use or maintain the system when it moves beyond Medford, Norris said. Those negotiations likely will come as the city secures more funding for the project, he added. 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