Imagine you are a paramedic at an accident scene just south of Green Valley, and you have a patient who is critically injured in a car accident.

You know the nature of the injuries will require complex surgery, and the hospital will need every available minute to prepare.

Thanks to a demonstration grant from the Department of Homeland Security, you can transmit real-time images of the patient's injuries to the hospital over the broadband wireless network that stretches down Interstate 19 from just south of Green Valley to Rio Rico.

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The $500,000 Security Project for First Responders grant funded a project to set up a wireless broadband network using wireless fidelity technology (Wi-Fi) along a 30-mile stretch of I-19. First responders such as fire departments, paramedics, and law enforcement agencies with Wi-Fi devices will have mobile access when traveling through the area.

"The most valuable aspect of this project is that first responders will be able to communicate with each other and with multiple agencies in a secure manner when they're mobile," said Oris Friesen, project coordinator for the Arizona Telecommunications and Information Council, which is implementing the grant with the assistance of WI-VOD, a Virginia wireless Internet service provider, and RoamAD, a New Zealand supplier of wireless network equipment.

The grant money was used to purchase vehicle transceivers, wireless network equipment, wireless Internet service, and the planning and set-up of the network. The first responders will have mobile access to the Internet or Internet-based Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), including voice services and high-speed data transmission, which could include maps, photos, and real-time video.

About one-third of the network along I-19 is finished. When the entire project is completed in July, grant funding will sustain the network through April 2006. After that, the network will need to become self-supporting through subscriptions by public and private entities. Friesen says the Council is working with WI-VOD to develop a plan to decide what avenues to pursue to make the network self-supporting. He said the Council will include local communities and community development organizations in the planning process.

The wireless network is set up by placing nodes and antennae at strategic points along the Interstate. Meiusi said that Arizona offered a great opportunity for setting up the network because of its wide open spaces. Using I-19 as the center point, the range of the network varies from 300 feet to as much as three and a half miles.

Allan Meiusi, chief solutions architect and chief executive officer of WI-VOD, sees the new wireless corridor as an opportunity to provide continuous communication services for first responders.

"The beauty of Wi-Fi technology," he says, "is that it is not cost-prohibitive in the way that traditional cabling and telecommunications have been, and its bandwidth is superior to traditional cabling."

Meiusi has previous experience setting up wireless Internet access for the transportation industry at locations that include truck stops, travel plazas, terminals, and repair shops across the country. He also sees RV parks as a great opportunity to provide wireless access for people who are regularly on the road.

Meuisi believes the applications for wireless networks are limited only by people's imaginations.

"We try to say to people, ‘give us your objectives and parameters and we'll build solutions for you,'" he said.

So far, the network performed up to expectations during testing. Friesen said,

"During a recent test of the network, a person traveled up and down I-19 at 75 mph while maintaining a continuous voice connection with a RoamAD employee in New Zealand," he said.

The technology will also benefit businesses as well as government entities and private citizens, Friesen said.

"Developers, for example, might find wireless access to the Internet in rural areas to be an advantage for the areas they are developing," he said. "They could use it to facilitate their planning and it would enhance marketing by being able to advertise wireless access to potential buyers." He noted that businesses with a delivery function would find the ability to receive maps, submit orders, or update their inventory from the road to be invaluable.

For now, Wi-Fi technology limits the wireless access range to a two-to three-mile area along the 30-mile stretch on the CANAMEX Corridor, but Friesen said he believes that when the new WI-MAX technology becomes commercially available in a couple years, the range could expand up to 30 miles and open up the use of wireless over far greater geographical areas.

Martha Lundin may be contacted at mlundin@azbiz.com or (520) 295-4259.