A Calgary community is about to be the first neighbourhood in Calgary to get free Wi-Fi.
Enmax crews are currently installing Internet nodes on light poles in the northwest community of Hawkwood.
Twenty-three of the wireless nodes are being installed throughout the neighbourhood at a cost of just under $5,000 each.
The innovation will also make Hawkwood the first residential community in Canada with a mesh network supplying free wireless Internet to all its residents.
"Any laptop, anywhere they go, they will be free to roam. From their restaurants to their coffee shops to their local libraries and parks, they are not going to be confined anymore to just their homes," says Alain Dubreuil from Naeco Communications.
Nucleus Information Systems is Calgary's oldest Internet provider and its vice president says the free mesh networks don't undermine current Internet providers.
The free Internet will be a low-speed connection and a high-speed version will be offered at a price. The fee structure has not yet been finalized but officials say it will cost less than the main broadband providers in Calgary.
The installation is expected to be completed in the next few weeks and by December 1st everyone in Hawkwood will have access to the free Wi-Fi network.
