Gahanna residents can take advantage of city's new Wi-Fi plan

Columbus Local News

Gahanna residents soon will be able to connect to high-speed, low-cost Wi-Fi through a citywide coverage network.

Brian Hoyt, the city's public information manager, said HighSpeedAir Inc. will create the area's fastest wireless hot zone in Gahanna.

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IBM acquires Sterling Commerce

IBM today said it has agreed to acquire Sterling Commerce, a supplier of software that performs large scale business-to-business transactions, from AT&T for $1.4 billion.

One best known as a leading provider of electronic data interchange (EDI) software, Dublin, Ohio-based Sterling Commerce processes large volumes of transactions between b-to-b trading partners through public and private networks and cloud-based exchanges.

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Dublin becomes largest Wi-Fi hotzone in Central Ohio

muniwireless.com

Dublin, Ohio has the largest Wi-Fi hotzone in central Ohio according to the press release issued by HighSpeedAir, a family-owned business based in Dublin, Ohio, which is responsible for deploying the network. The primary goals of this network are to enhance public safety and improve the city’s operational efficiencies, while also offering a valuable broadband service option to the community.

One area of increased efficiency for the city includes almost instantaneous information dissemination for police, who can also file field reports from cruisers without returning to the Justice Center. It also allows the police to have improved communications in mobile command units during emergencies.

Verizon's plan to sell phone lines gets FCC OK

WASHINGTON -- Federal regulators have given Verizon Communications Inc. the green light to sell nearly 5 million phone lines in 14 states outside of its core service areas to Frontier Communications Corp.

Friday's approval by the Federal Communications Commission marks the final step for the $8.6 billion cash-and-stock deal, which was announced more than a year ago and is expected to close on July 1. The transaction has been cleared by antitrust regulators at the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission, as well by as state regulators and local officials.

Verizon is selling 4.8 million residential and small-business phone lines and 1 million broadband connections in rural and small-town markets to Frontier. The deal will nearly triple the customer base for Frontier, which is based in Stamford, Conn.

In return for FCC approval, Frontier has pledged to make significant investments in high-speed Internet networks. Expanding broadband availability, particularly in rural America, is a top priority for FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski.

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Testing the Benefits of High-Speed Internet Access

Your home broadband connection can let your spouse work online while you catch up on Lost. But for residents of low-income neighborhoods, high-speed Internet access means more than convenience: It could be a path to better health, safer streets and economic opportunity.

To prove this, Case Western Reserve University has launched the University Circle Innovation Zone, a project that's deploying gigabit fiber-optic connections to residents of Cleveland's poorest neighborhoods. Beginning May 22 with 104 homes, local institutions-including hospitals, schools, electric utilities and public safety agencies-will use the network to deliver cutting-edge services to residents. Over the next 18 months, Case Western researchers will study changes in residents' health and other indicators of their standard of living.

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