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McAllen review finds citywide Wi‑Fi cost $3.1M to deploy; annual operations about $350,000
Summary
IT staff reported the city's pandemic-era citywide Wi‑Fi network cost about $3.1 million to deploy in 2020, covered roughly 10,000 McAllen ISD students within the coverage area, now averages about 1,400 connected devices daily, and carries roughly $350,000 in annual operating costs and maintenance challenges from aging equipment.
The McAllen City Commission received an update on the citywide Wi‑Fi network during a workshop Tuesday, with IT staff reporting the system was built during the COVID-19 pandemic at a deployed cost of about $3,100,000 and that ongoing operating and maintenance costs are about $350,000 a year.
Robert Acosta, director of IT, told the commission the Wi‑Fi deployment began in 2020 to support remote learning and targeted underserved neighborhoods. "We identified about 18,000 students, that didn't have the resources, Internet access to be able to do remote learning from home," Acosta said. He said the city deployed roughly 1,000 pole-mounted access points and that McAllen ISD identified about 214 students without access; after deployment staff estimated they covered about 10,000 students who lived within the Wi‑Fi coverage area.
The nut graf: staff said the network met an urgent pandemic-era need but usage patterns and equipment age have changed. Daily connected devices peaked at about 13,500…
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