Wireless Internet access, called WiFi, was the first dip in the pool for Ketchum's newly formed Community Development Corporation. It was a surprising step.
The CDC was formed to support the city's economy with development of micro-retail spaces and work-force housing.
The economic benefits of WiFi are debatable, and the CDC's first outing raises the question of whether or not its mission is to support the local economy or to compete with established local businesses.
Ketchum Mayor Randy Hall's enthusiasm for WiFi stems from the day Cox Communications told him that to get high-speed Internet service he would also be forced to pay for cable television. (Cox says that while true then, this is not true today.) Hall does not watch television.
Hall's displeasure likely developed before Qwest Communications came into the local market with competitive high-speed Internet service, and before Verizon and Sprint launched truly mobile service.
It was not tempered by any memory of the time when leaders begged high-speed Internet providers to bring high-speed service here.
CDC Director Heidi Dohse and a consultant asked the City Council last week for $150,000 to create a wireless downtown network to laptop computers or other devices to access the Internet anywhere in downtown Ketchum. There also would be ongoing annual costs.
Downtown WiFi would be nice, but is it necessary? Or fair? WiFi would still require the services of the hard-wired providers—with whom it would compete.
Moreover, the area doesn't lack Internet access. Local hotels, restaurants and other businesses already provide WiFi hotspots, as does Sun Valley City Hall.
Techies warn of the network's security dangers for businesses and users, and also note the constant care and feeding.
While Dohse touted potential savings for the city, she presented only costs. She said user fees, grants, donations and advertising sales could offset the costs.
The company that owns this newspaper and other valley media companies sell Internet advertising. Yet, the city would use tax dollars not only to compete with Cox, Qwest, Skylan and cell phone companies, but with smaller local media companies. And, unlike those companies, the city would face no market risk.
The city should not use scarce tax resources to compete with established local businesses that pay the very taxes that would be used against them.
Other businesses should be concerned, too. The city could just as well set up a taxpayer-backed sporting goods store, a restaurant or a real estate office to generate funds for WiFi—or other projects.
With the city's plate full of hotels and downtown beautification projects, WiFi should not be on top of its priority list.
