帕克兰县是一个县级市，采用了由斯德哥尔摩到俄亥俄州都柏林市率先开放的网络接入模式，专门用于满足农村地区的需求。 位于阿尔伯塔省首府埃德蒙顿西部边界，距离该省广阔的油砂开采业仅有几个小时的车程，帕克兰县经济繁荣， 其主要产业包括发电，林业，煤炭，石油和天然气，先进制造业，交通运输，物流和农业。 拥有北美最大的三个商业园。 其经济活动大部分集中在埃德蒙顿经济区内的东部。 西部小城镇和农村拥有自然美景，就业机会缺乏，留不住年轻人。 与外界孤立的其中一个因素是缺乏宽带接入，这有可能使经济竞争力达到平衡。
Building Communications
In 2012, Parkland County completed the core of a network of 18 communication towers, ten in the west and eight in the east. Capitalized by grants, the towers have power and terrestrial connectivity and are open to operators of first-responder networks, mobile and wireless Internet Service Providers (WISPs), who need only rent space on a tower and install a radio to be in business. Parkland County has rugged terrain and is heavily forested, so plans call for construction of an “in-fill” network of smaller towers to extend service to even more of the population. The business model projects breakeven on operating costs within four years, with the more popular towers in the east helping to subsidize the less popular ones in the west, and take-up by WISPs, systems integrators and government agencies is strong.
Parkland County has adopted the Intelligent Community model of broadband-based development, and is now focused on growth of a knowledge-based workforce, innovation and digital inclusion. It has partnered with Green Hectares, an Alberta-based nonprofit that delivers tech-based education, mentorship and knowledge sharing to build vibrant rural economies centered on agriculture. Village halls were long the center of rural life in Parkland County, and the government has launched a Rural Community Network program that equips the halls with free Wifi, linked to the tower network. WiFi access gives new life to the halls’ role as community centers, and Parkland County is supporting the volunteers who run them with Web site development and an online reservation system for the rentals that generate their modest income. Six of 28 halls have already committed to the program and many more are expected. The same public-sector network now supports e-government applications from online applications to the streaming of Council meetings. While still early in its development as an Intelligent Community, Parkland County is proving how the model can succeed in the rural places of the world.
In the News
Read the latest updates about Parkland County.
Population: 30,568
Website: www.parklandcounty.com
Smart21 2014