Tropos Networks announced that chaska.net, a wireless internet service provider (WISP) owned and operated by the City of Chaska, Minnesota, has gone live with it's metro-scale Wi-Fi network completely covering the 16 square mile footprint of the community. The wireless broadband network, delivering symmetric data rates of 1-3 Mbps throughout the city with unlimited mobility, has proven to be a very attractive alternative to existing cable, DSL and dial-up services for the residents of the city.

Chaska.net started marketing its service and accepting pre-subscriptions just four weeks ago. In that short timeframe, chaska.net has seen a 20% take rate, with more than 1,500 subscriptions out of 7,500 homes. By eliminating truck rolls, expensive CPE equipment and costly wired backhaul, the metro-scale Wi-Fi solution from Tropos allows chaska.net to offer enhanced broadband services at a fraction of the cost of the service plans available from the existing cable and DSL providers. The price point of $16.99 per month with unlimited mobility throughout the city has made the service economically alluring for Chaska residents.

"We are very pleased with the community response to our metro-scale Wi-Fi offering," said Bradley Mayer, IS Manager for chaska.net. "The demand for the service has far surpassed our most optimistic projections. The goal of chaska.net is to create a valuable community resource for our residents. The attractive economics of the Tropos solution has allowed us to do that very quickly and economically."

In addition to the economic advantages of the service, subscribers stay connected to the community via a specially created chaska.net home page. This community resource highlights current city events and special promotions of local merchants and organizations.