More free wireless Internet is coming to Main Avenue, hopefully in January.
The small SkyFi service piloted by SkyWerx, a Pagosa Springs-based company, will become Durango Wi-Fi next year, and it will be available along Main Avenue from Fifth Street through 13th Street, said Chief Operating Officer Justin Davis.
It could be available before January if all goes well.
SkyWerx is planning to provide the service to the Durango-La Plata County Airport and Purgatory Resort, in addition to downtown Durango, he said.
The service will be supported by ads promoting businesses in the area, and it will be much faster than the SkyFi piloted service.
“It would absolutely be fast enough to stream video,” Davis said.
But streaming will likely not be allowed; rather, the intent is to enable people along Main Avenue to check email, surf the Internet or check bank accounts, he said.
The service will be a partnership with the city of Durango, which will own the fiber optics, said city Finance Director Julie Brown.
The city is legally allowed to lease out the fiber optics because it is an insubstantial amount of the city’s fiber-optic capacity.
SkyWerx will provide the service and support it through a fiber-optic backbone that runs to Albuquerque.
The electrical lines needed to support the service are being installed, Davis said.
The service will be available inside businesses along Main Avenue.
But Wi-Fi inside coffee shops might still be preferable, because Durango Wi-Fi will have regular pop-up ads and a sign-in screen.
Users would sign-in using a social media account, which could be used to gather data about visitors, where they came from and why they are in town.
The service will also offer coupons to nearby businesses along Main Avenue.
mshinn@durangoherald.com
