The dream was a Wi-Fi bubble over Johnson County that would provide free wireless Internet to thousands of users.

Two years later, the bubble has burst.

When the cost of deploying Wi-Fi was studied, the potential bill exceeded $90 million. And by the time the technology was deployed, it would have been obsolete.

Today, a new wireless vision has arisen with a technology developed by Sprint known as WiMax, which is significantly faster than Wi-Fi.

Though that system might give government agencies the free connectivity they want, it won’t give free wireless service to average people with laptops.

“We’ve been in contact with Sprint over the last two years and said if you’re going to deploy this someplace in the country, let’s make your corporate headquarters backyard a test case,” said Hannes Zacharias, deputy county manager for Johnson County government.

In Kansas City, officials also are studying how to increase wireless connectivity, and they would welcome a WiMax bubble. Kansas City is not considering a city-owned Wi-Fi network.

And for good reason.

Zacharias said that a Wi-Fi transmitter has a radius of about 150 yards and that deploying it countywide would require “one every half block.” WiMax transmitters, he added, can cover two or three miles.

A committee was set up two years ago to study the feasibility of a countywide Wi-Fi hot spot, but Zacharias said it has been mothballed for now.

Walt Way, director of Johnson County’s Emergency Communications Center, said that police and fire departments use wireless services, but that speeds limit their applications.

Way said WiMax would allow ambulances, for example, to send streaming video back to emergency room doctors while a patient is being treated by paramedics. It could provide real-time pictures of a major fire for people to evaluate.

A large, complicated engineering document could be downloaded in minutes instead of hours. A security camera at a bank could relay video of a robbery to police as it happens.

Johnson County officials have been wondering for months when Clearwire, the company deploying WiMax for Sprint, will bring it to the Kansas City area.

Way said he was told by a Sprint official last month that the Kansas City area might see a rollout next year, but Clearwire would not confirm that.

Craig Settles, a wireless consultant in Oakland, Calif., said that Oklahoma City built a Wi-Fi network beginning in 2004 and that the city owns it. The city passed a sales tax to fund it.

“They’re running 217 applications for various city departments,” he said. “People need to sit down and say, ‘What do we want and what do we want to do with it?’ ”

Earlier this month, Clearwire announced that it plans to deploy WiMax in 80 large markets over the next two years. Las Vegas and Atlanta were on a short list for this year, along with 47 cities where the company has deployed pre-WiMax.

Also on the list are Charlotte, N.C.; Chicago; Dallas/Fort Worth; Honolulu; Seattle and Philadelphia. The list for next year includes New York; Boston; Washington, D.C.; Houston and San Francisco.

Kansas City wasn’t mentioned. Company officials would not comment on whether our area is among the 80 large markets.

The first city government to contract with Clearwire for public safety applications is Grand Rapids, Mich. It plans to deploy WiMax citywide this year, and its arrangement could become a model for other local governments.

Sally Wesorick, the city’s project manager for wireless broadband, said Grand Rapids is getting WiMax at no cost.

Though the city will pay $40 a month for each connection, the company will pay Grand Rapids a rental fee for placing transmission equipment on city-owned facilities. Even if the connection fees exceed the rental payments, Wesorick said, Clearwire will waive the extra cost.

The company also agreed to offer a discounted rate of $9.95 per month to low-income residents who qualify. But homeowners and businesses will pay regular rates that have yet to be announced.

Zacharias said Johnson County would love a similar deal.

“We’ll see how things develop,” he said. “We’re not going to be the ones to create a system or network, because that’s not our forte.”

To reach Jim Sullinger, call 816-234-7701 or send e-mail to jsullinger@kcstar.com.