Rio Rancho's wireless Internet provider wants the city's help in making its network functional. Azulstar sent a letter to the city June 21 outlining how the company plans to address problems identified by the city.

The company recommended the creation of an advisory group consisting of city staff and Azulstar employees. The group will help Azulstar improve its service quality, said Noa Eisenberg, vice president of marketing for the company.

"We need to make sure we have municipal involvement," Eisenberg said. "They're certainly not going to be doing our job." Since beginning in Rio Rancho in 2003, Azulstar has drawn fire from its subscribers and the city over poor customer service and inadequate signal strength.

City officials are evaluating Azulstar's letter and will decide whether or not to terminate the contract, said Steve Ruger, contracts administrator for the city.

"We're just kind of in that phase of review," Ruger said. "We want to take our time and do our due diligence."

The city's response is more lenient than implied in a May 11 letter to the company, which states, "Your License Agreement will terminate in forty-five (45) days from receipt of this letter unless the above-mentioned issues are cured to the City's satisfaction within that time."

The letter, a notice of default termination, states Azulstar was in material breach of its contract with the city. Problems cited in the letter include inconsistent coverage, minimal customer service, nonpayment of PNM electricity bills and nonpayment of almost $30,000 owed to the city for violation of a professional services agreement.

Azulstar paid the city $30,000 for the violation and reimbursed it for almost $1,700 in PNM bills.

The company has plans to improve its customer service, including revamping its call center and hiring more staff, the letter states. Azulstar will also provide the city with a direct line to its office so staff can inform the company of problems as they arise.

Azulstar acknowledged in the letter it would not be able to complete the initial project - to provide a wireless blanket for Rio Rancho - in the 45 days allowed in the city's termination notice. The company could not resolve this issue by the June 25 deadline "due to the engineering and financing necessary," according to the letter.

The project was supposed to be done almost two years ago, but Ruger said the company is not entirely at fault for the delay.

"It also took the city awhile to bring out these issues," he said.

Rio Rancho is now working with Azulstar to find the bugs in the network, Ruger said.

Eisenberg said the project was finished when it was supposed to be. Areas with no or low coverage, such as City Hall, gave the impression it wasn't done, but it was, Eisenberg said.

"There was a perception it wasn't complete," she said. "I don't think you could consider it incomplete. There were certain areas that needed to be improved."

Councilor Mike Williams said the project was not done because the network never worked like it was supposed to.

Observer reporters tested Azulstar's signal strength at 12 locations throughout the city June 4, using an airport extreme wireless card on an Apple MacBook. Results showed that most of Rio Rancho's residential areas have a weak, erratic signal. Four of the 12 locations had no signal, including Azulstar's office. For complete results, check out that story on The Observer's Web site: www.observer-online.com

The company will upgrade equipment in low-coverage areas and install new equipment where there is no coverage, according to the letter. The areas include North Hills, North Meadows and several apartment buildings scattered throughout the city, Eisenberg said.

There are eight access points around the city, and Azulstar will install about 15 more, she said.

Wireless technology has evolved since the equipment was installed, Eisenberg said.

"The biggest problem is the technology is old technology," she said.

Eisenberg said the old equipment is prone to interference, but once the upgrades are done, that won't be a problem.

Williams said it's time to terminate Azulstar's contract, and Rio Rancho should start looking for a new wireless Internet provider.

"If the city wants to move forward, that's what it's going to have to do," he said. "The (Azulstar) service is bad."