Residents of the northwest community of Hawkwood recently became a little more connected, thanks to a new Calgary company that is pledging to “free communities” by providing wireless Internet service at no charge.

Through a system that involves the placement of nodes (small transmitter/receivers designed to boost the wireless signal) that have been affixed to the top of 23 lampposts throughout the community, those residents that so choose can register for an account on the company’s website, and enjoy basic access for free.

“This is the first community of its kind, not only in Calgary, but anywhere in the country,” said Alain Dubreuil, Naeco’s business development manager. “There have been smaller cities like Fredricton that have wireless networks up, but they just do it for their use and in the downtown core.”

The company began the soft launch of the project back in December, and to date has signed up 400 residents to the service.

As one would expect, much of the legwork to get the service up and running involved some serious discussion with the City. In order to secure permission to place the vital nodes atop city-owned lampposts, Dubreuil says that the company had to engage in a lengthy dialogue with City Hall, after abandoning the initial idea of placing the nodes on rooftops in the community.

“We thought using lampposts would be too difficult and as we started progressing through that, rooftops wouldn’t cut it and we’d have to go to the lampposts,” said Dubreuil. “That’s when we approached the city and started all the appropriate procedures and open houses and everything else to get it done. It took about two and a half years to get it done.”

Key to Naeco’s ability to distribute free Internet to the community is the utilization of mesh network technology, which allows for an inexpensive, uncomplicated (no need to bury cables) and environmentally conscious (one node consumes less energy than a household lightbulb) way of providing free wireless Internet.

But how can it be free? According to Dubreuil, the key to Hawkwood residents being able to partake in free wireless that rivals the basic level of service (128 kilobytes per second) provided by rival companies like Shaw is the participation of businesses within the community.

“One of the key things that supports the wireless network —because we are giving away free Internet — is that we have local businesses on board,” said Dubreuil. “[We’re trying to bring that community newspaper] concept to the portal, so that when anybody that registers for the free usage, when they click on their browser, it immediately brings them to the Hawkwood portal site.”

Dubreuil explains that anyone contemplating registering for the service won’t have to put up with a barrage of pop-up advertising or massive banner ads that send users running for a more conventional provider, since the company’s advertising model involves simple and unobtrusive ads for local businesses.

When speaking of the Internet though, it’s tough to ignore the inevitable security concerns that can arise.

Hawkwood resident Bryan Backman-Beharry works in the computer industry, and is hesitant to believe Naeco’s claims that their system is “completely secure.”

“Wireless communications of any sort are inherently less secure than wired counterparts,” said Backman-Beharry. “With a wired connection, a would-be eavesdropper or man-in-the-middle would have to gain physical access to the phone line or cable. That’s far less trivial than capturing packets being broadcast over the air in a 50 or 100 foot radius.”