Last week, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett's office announced that the city may be in the running for a wireless fidelity, or Wi-Fi, network. This digital advancement would not cost city taxpayers, according to the announcement.

A Wi-Fi network is a local area network that uses high frequency radio signals to transmit and receive data using ethernet protocol.

Midwest Fiber Networks, a private business, is heading the initiative — believed to cost somewhere between $20 million and $25 million, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel — and is aggressively pushing Milwaukee Common Council members and Barrett for their support.

Milwaukee cannot let itself get bogged down with political squabbling over how the proceeds of the Wi-Fi pie will be broken down. Barrett and the Common Council must move forward with this plan.

Common Council President Willie Hines said in a press release from the mayor's office that the proposed network would "close the digital divide in the city by providing low cost Internet access."

Closing this gap should be a high priority for Milwaukee's civil servants, especially when it would not cost the tax payers a dime.

The network would easily be able to support itself financially, leasing out some of its broadband width to corporations in the Milwaukee area. This would make Internet access for residents of Milwaukee extremely affordable. Costs could be as low as $10 per month depending on the network's success.

Midwest Fiber Networks sounds willing to pay the city money in order to lease the space needed to create such a network. They are also willing to link up public parks for free Internet access.

This is not the first proposal a major metropolitan city has entertained regarding low-cost Wi-Fi networks.

San Francisco and Portland have entertained offers to build major municipal networks. On Oct. 5, the Philadelphia mayor's office announced EarthLink will build the city a network that provides very cheap Internet access to low income families, according to WashingtonPost.com.

While Philadelphia is moving forward, cities like Portland and San Francisco struggle to work through the political obstructions that pose problems for trying to create such networks.

What those cities don't realize is that the Internet is no longer a leisure tool for the upper echelons of society. Its social value is immeasurable. The Internet is becoming another daily essential and a tool unlike any other.

This venture could also help spur an economic growth within the city. A modernization of Milwaukee's Internet access could be an enticing sales pitch to companies searching for new cities for their corporate headquarters.

Providing every citizen of Milwaukee with an affordable alternative to companies like Time Warner is the responsibility of every civil servant that sits in office. We urge Barrett and the other aldermen to heed Hines' advice. Rarely does such a wonderful opportunity fall into the lap of major cities like Milwaukee. We hope Barrett and the aldermen make the most of this fortunate turn of events.

This editorial was published in The Marquette Tribune on October 18, 2005.