Wireless Broadband, Buffalo, MN

• City council willing to invest in technology
• Wireless is an affordable solution for many communities

Buffalo, Minnesota is located about 40 miles northwest of Minneapolis/St. Paul and is a rapidly growing city of about 15,000.

Buffalo did not set out to provide high-speed Internet services to the community. Originally the city was concerned with internal data transmission between local government offices. Before the city thought about creating its own network, the city invited the local telephone and companies to provide services. Like many small communities they were told they were too small to provide a return on investment and were not even on the radar. The city went to the state public utility commission and became registered to be an Internet Service Provider.

The city administrator, city council, a few IT people, some local bankers, and the local schools provided leadership for the project. Each of the people involved in the technology committee realized the importance of high-speed Internet access and had the vision to set their goals to create carrier class entity.

They believe their success has been, in part, because they spent the money to do things right from the beginning and had the support of the community.

For More Information:
http://www.bwig.net/ and http://www.ci.buffalo.mn.us/

Contact:
Merton Auger, City Administrator
Phone: 763-684-5406
Email: merton.auger@ci.buffalo.mn.us