Microsoft helping to bring free public Wi-Fi to Valley Junction in West Des Moines

Kevin Hardy | The Des Moines Register

Show Caption Hide Caption 5 tips for cutting down your cable bill Tame your budget-busting cable bill with these money-saving tips!

A pilot project funded by Microsoft and federal grant dollars will bring free internet to many students, businesses and residents in the Valley Junction area of West Des Moines.

A three-year pilot project will create a free, public Wi-Fi system that stretches from 1st Street to 8th Street and from Railroad Avenue to Vine Street. That area is home to about 1,200 residents, 639 households and 180 businesses.

Visitors shopping along Valley Junction's historic 5th Street will have limited access to the network. But Valley Junction students, residents and businesses will have unlimited access to the wireless system, which is expected to launch in October.

Additionally, the project will partner with T-Mobile to provide portable wireless devices known as mifis to about 200 low-income students from Hillside Elementary over the next two years.

Those students and their families are the heart of the project, said Dave Lyons, a consultant working with the city and Microsoft.

"The parents who are parked outside the library after-hours or at the McDonald's so their kids can download, research, complete and file homework," he said. "That was the target persona."

The public-private partnership also expects to test point-to-point, high-speed Wi-Fi access in the homes of low- and moderate-income students and their families.

Lyons, who previously worked as Iowa's economic development director and insurance commissioner, said the free public Wi-Fi is targeted at opening up internet access, not necessarily replacing existing services for families and businesses.

"If you're a business and the internet is important to you and you have internet access already, don't be dropping it because there's free access. Make it available to your clients, your visitors, your shoppers, etc. But until you know what you need, do not give up your existing access."

More: New fiber internet service coming to Waukee

The public Wi-Fi is expected to meet or exceed the federal definition of broadband by boasting connection speeds of at least 25 megabits per second downstream and 3 megabits per second upstream.

To fund the effort, Microsoft is donating $150,000, and West Des Moines is using about $250,000 in funds from a Community Development Block Grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for the project.

Microsoft, which operates some of its largest data centers in West Des Moines, is working to make broadband more accessible across the country. West Des Moines officials targeted Valley Junction because it's home to high numbers of low- and moderate-income households.

Mike Miles, Microsoft's general manager for data center community development, said the company wants to ensure its employees have an opportunity to give back in the communities where they live and work.

"And so on a regular basis, we reach out to the community to figure out what are some of the pressing needs," he said. "Here, it happens to be broadband access."

But increasing broadband access also aligns with Microsoft's overall pledge to help bridge the digital divide, whether it's caused by economic barriers or a lack of infrastructure, he said.

Miles said Microsoft employees in its West Des Moines data centers have some of the highest volunteerism rates in the country.

"They happen to volunteer among the top in the company," he said. "And to us, that kind of demonstrates their intrinsic desire and need to give back to the community."

The city and the West Des Moines Leadership Advisory Board previously identified broadband infrastructure as a top priority for recruiting and retaining residents and businesses.

MORE: West Des Moines should consider high-speed internet, consultant says

Clyde Evans, economic development director for West Des Moines, said quality, high-speed internet access is an increasingly important part of doing business.

Nowadays, most West Des Moines businesses use relatively low amounts of water and sanitary sewer. But high-speed internet is key.

"Broadband is integral to any company anymore. It's not just the large insurance companies, people like that," he said. "Even grocery stores are now all interconnected ... Having good broadband connectivity is crucial."

Although city leaders say they have no interest in building a city-owned internet utility, they hope the project could spur more service providers to expand access to affordable internet in the area.

The Des Moines suburb has much more in the way of accessibility than some rural stretches of Iowa, where coverage can be lacking or nonexistent. Buy Lyons said cost can still be a barrier for many.

MORE: Mediacom rolls out gigabit internet to 309 Iowa communities

Mediacom offers business and residential internet across all of the Valley Junction area, said spokeswoman Phyllis Peters. While some customers benefit from promotional pricing, Mediacom's basic internet service begins at $54.99 per month for speeds of 60 megabits per second.

The company's Connect 2 Compete program also offers a $9.95 monthly internet service to families of K-12 students who qualify for free or reduced price school lunches.