Lenexa uses Alvarion WiMAX

Lenexa, Kan., a suburb of Kansas City, will build a city-wide wireless broadband network to connect government buildings, city vehicles, traffic signals and video cameras using Alvarion network technology. The goal is to use the WiFi technology to reduce pollution by better managing traffic flow.

Electronic Technologies, a partner company to Alvarion, will provide systems integration for the project.

According to Michael Lawrence, Lenexa's CTO, the city will use the Alvarion Breeze ACCESS VL to provide broadband connections to mobile workers of all kinds, as well as to relay traffic information to a centralized location and make adjustments in traffic lights remotely and to replace slower DSL connections into city buildings including two fire stations, a museum and a conference center.

"It is a multi-layered application," Lawrence said. "Our mobile employees will have the same broadband facilities whether they are in a vehicle or a fixed locations."

Mobile employees, including building inspectors, public works crews, and zoning inspectors will be able to receive assignments via the WiMAX network and send in reports as well.

"We think it will save two man-hours per day at the outset," Lawrence said. "Some employees may only have to come into the office two or three times a week."

The first phase of the project will cover a 10-square mile area with Alvarion BreezeACCESS VL and will be finished this month. A second phase will cover Lenexa’s 30-square miles.

Funding for the deployment is being provided through Operation Greenlight, a multi-agency group of the 19 Kansas City area municipalities focused on reducing pollution and saving money. Cameras deployed at intersections will track traffic and feed information into a centralized location, from which the timing of lights can be changed to enable better traffic flow, depending on the time of day and direction of traffic, Lawrence said.

Lenexa was the pilot for Operation Greenlight's use of broadband wireless and has been deploying the Alvarion system since last October, he added. Operation Greenlight has now standardized on the Alvarion system for its unlicensed spectrum usage.

Lenexa is providing high-speed Interent access to its employees through the system, but has no plans to make it publicly available, Lawrence said. The city is exploring the possibility of a separate public broadbnd network, he added.