NEWS ADVISORY

For Immediate Release

March 20, 2007

Contacts: Norm Stockwell (MCWA) 608-279-1607; Eric Howland (DaneNet) 608- 274-3107; Lori Nitzel (WPNA) 608-442-7270; Greg Rosenberg (MACLT) 608-280-0131

TWO MADISON NEIGHBORHOODS TO GET FREE WIRELESS NETWORKS

Thanks to a grant from the Wisconsin Community Fund, two neighborhoods in Madison will soon be the beneficiaries of free wireless internet access.

Madison Community Wireless Advocates (MCWA), a grassroots group of residents organized to support and develop free community wireless networks throughout the city, will be launching its efforts with these two pilot projects this spring. With the assistance of DaneNet (http://danenet.wicip.org/), a local information technology and training nonprofit, the low-income Darbo-Worthington neighborhood and the new mixed-income Troy Gardens cohousing project will be the first in the city to be able to connect at no cost.

“Unfortunately, the digital divide is alive and well in my neighborhood,” stated Lori Nitzel, of the Worthington Park Neighborhood Association. “This project promises to bring the large majority of neighborhood residents who currently have no home internet access into the online community. The internet is now the prime resource for news, job seeking, political action, and engaging in the local community. Correcting the injustice of income-limited internet access needs to begin immediately, and we are doing that with this project.”

Greg Rosenberg, executive director of the Madison Area Community Land Trust, will be overseeing the project’s implementation in the new Troy Gardens co-housing development. “As a cohousing community, the homeowners at Troy Gardens will be sharing responsibility for governing and maintaining their community, and the wireless project will play a key role in creating a collaborative structure for the community. And of course, it will provide access to computers and the internet that will be invaluable to residents of all ages, for school, work, and recreation.”

MCWA hopes that these projects will be the beginning of a push to develop free community wireless networks in all of Madison’s neediest neighborhoods. Donations, grant writing and technical volunteer assistance are all presently needed. Additionally, computer donations are needed for the Darbo-Worthington neighborhood. Please see the above website for information on how to help, or call the contacts listed.

Madison Community Wireless Advocates is a grassroots group of residents who support the formation of a low-cost or free community wireless network in Madison and Dane County. For more information or to get involved, please call Norm Stockwell at 279-1607 or send an e-mail to: <madwireless@yahoo.com>.

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