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7-19-06:
CANAMEX Corridor Segment “un” Wired for High-Speed
Internet
Homeland Security Border Grant Connects First Responders
The WiFi First
Responder Pilot Project has recently given emergency personnel
high-speed access to the Internet along the CANAMEX Corridor near
Arizona’s southern border. This project allows first responders to
connect to the Internet from their vehicles across a 30-mile stretch of
I-19 from Green Valley in Pima County to Rio Rico in Santa Cruz County.
The project showcases technological solutions to problems such as
network security, and increased access to telecommunications for first
responders and rural areas.
 To
create this wireless network, the project built upon efforts already
underway to make the CANAMEX Corridor a "smart corridor." According to
State CIO Chris Cummiskey, “The CANAMEX ‘smart corridor’ improves the
lives of people in neighboring communities and those traveling through
it." Besides the obvious benefits to emergency responders using the
system, the Wireless Project provides much-needed internet connectivity
to schools, businesses, and residences near the corridor.
Created by Congress in 1995, the CANAMEX Corridor is a series of
highways connecting Mexico and Canada via rural areas in Arizona,
Nevada, Utah, Idaho and Montana. In Arizona, the corridor is 487 miles
long, and extends through long expanses of rural areas which lack
reliable cellular and landline telecommunication services.
The WiFi Pilot Project was funded by a grant from the Federal Department
of Homeland Security's (DHS) Information Technology and Evaluation
Program (ITEP) to improve information sharing and integration among
first responders. The $500,000 grant was awarded in May 2004, to the
State of Arizona, in partnership with the Arizona Telecommunications and
Information Council (ATIC). The WiFi Pilot Project was successfully
completed on April 30, 2006. New expansion and sustainability is now
being aggressively pursued by the project’s private sector partner.
The primary focus of the grant was “securing” a wireless network for use
by a wide spectrum of public and private participants. The project
emulated other successful private uses of WiFi, such as a network
deployed by Graham County for use by County law enforcement (in use for
about four years). However, the project also provided a template of
scalable standards of security, specific to the needs of many classes of
users, including the use of encryption and virtual private networks.
Throughout the process, stakeholders such as local law enforcement,
border patrol, and firefighters were consulted. Currently, there are
about 50 first responders using this network. In addition, another 100
government and private sector agencies, along with many residents, are
beginning to use this important infrastructure.
One key objective of the project was to test signal strength over miles
of open space, given the foliage, hills, highway undulations, and other
geographic challenges. Another key objective was to preserve a
high-speed connection while driving at highway speeds. “Traveling at 70
miles per hour, first responders in Santa Cruz & Pima Counties are
giving new meaning to the term ‘High Speed Internet,’” said Cummiskey.
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