The wide-area wireless concept recently announced for New York’s Suffolk County is jumping Long Island Sound (the long way) into Rhode Island, where officials hope to set up the nation’s first statewide wi-fi hotspot.

Well, if your aim is to cover a whole state, better to pick the smallest one (Rhode Island) than the largest (Alaska).

Unlike Suffolk, Rhode Island’s effort won’t be a free service. Led by Rhode Island Wireless Innovation Networks (RIWINs), the idea is to use the border-to-border Internet access as a business recruitment tool, chiefly aimed at taxed-out firms in Massachusetts. Toward that end, there’s significant infrastructure muscle in the plans:

The Rhode Island network is a hybrid of WiMax and Wi-Fi technologies that would deliver real-time connections at a minimum speed of 1 megabit per second (Mbps), allowing users to download a typical Hollywood-length film in about 100 minutes. The system will be supported by 120 base antennas placed throughout the state…

The project is being funded by public and private sources, and once fully operational, users would pay $20 per month under one fee structure, said Saul Kaplan, acting executive director of the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation, a partner in the project.

This means more pressure to make sure the network is up practically 24/7, and is secure — both crucial for business users. Regarding the former concern, I wonder how the access points would work during inclement weather, particularly during winter. Even private connections are prone to going out in adverse conditions, but that doesn’t help sell this big-idea pitch.