The Council Bluffs Wi-Fi Consortium recently announced the launch of its 3rd phase of B-Link, the Bluffs Community Wi-Fi project.
Matt Walsh, Mayor of Council Bluffs, says for several years Google has given the city grants to institute Wi-Fi in areas the city chose.
The first location to be completed was Central Square Park, followed by the hundred block, which Walsh explains is the equivalent of Council Bluffs’ Old Market area.
Next up was South Main Street which Walsh says is the government area.
He says after he was elected, Google approached the city with another grant and asked which location they wanted to add next.
Walsh says he thought they needed to be more strategic in how they used the money. So the city got together with the Council Bluffs Community School District.
"To figure out a way to get Wi-Fi out to the students who are issued a learning device by the school district but many can’t afford to pay for internet connection so when they got home at night they couldn’t do homework assigned on their device. And so that was the impetus for what happened.”
Walsh says B-Link will eventually be one of the largest free community Wi-Fi networks in the United States. It will cover more than 20 square miles and provide internet access to more than 40,000 people.
More information is available at blinkwifi.org.