Wireless Internet Going to City in Amazon
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By SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS  Santa Clara, Calif.- If the Internet can reach the middle of the Amazon jungle, then it can probably reach anywhere.
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(InfoWorld) - Despite the tribulations of launching a regional wireless Internet network, some cities are making progress by sharing their hard-won lessons. Stung by criticism of high cost, flaky service and pandering to recreational Web surfers, cities can justify their investment in free wireless service by using the networks to support public safety radio traffic, attract new businesses and abolish the "digital divide" that can stop low-income workers from landing Internet-age jobs. That's the message from government technology workers gathered at the MuniWireless 2007 conference in Newton, Massachusetts. Ubiquitous wireless coverage could also improve residents' lives by offering automated traffic monitoring, parking enforcement and meter reading, they said. But sometimes even those goals fail to sustain public support when a network hits surprise hurdles, said Bill Oates, chief information officer for Boston. The city had been running its new Wi-Fi network for a month in the blocks surrounding city hall when citizens began to complain that the Internet service provider used a content filter that blocked certain Web sites. "We will keep hitting bumps in the road, we know that. But sometimes it makes you ask if it's WiMax versus Wi-Fi versus 'Why even try?'," Oates said Tuesday in a conference session. Cities can also face a challenge when the local historical society complains that wireless antennas can harm the architectural appearance of city buildings. City workers in Malden, Massachusetts, found a way around that problem by fitting a Wi-Fi antenna inside the storefront sign of a local bar. The business owner was happy to donate the location in exchange for a strong signal, and the new node boosted coverage in a heavily populated part of town, said Anthony Rodrigues, the city's director of information technology. That example illustrates that the politics of launching a wireless network can be a tougher challenge than the technology, Rodrigues said. It is fairly easy to link the networks in neighboring towns to share coverage areas or fire response, but much harder to persuade elected leaders to talk about funding the effort or agreeing who will control the network. The political hurdle applies far beyond the borders of New England, where the conference is taking place, said Esme Vos, the founder of MuniWireless.com , a blog and sponsor of the conference. Until recently, public wireless networks have existed only in major cities with large budgets, including Philadelphia, Chicago, Houston and Portland, Oregon, she said. But across the U.S., the number of municipalities with planned or deployed public broadband networks has risen from 122 in July 2005 to 385 in May 2007, according to MuniWireless. The downside of that success has been increased public scrutiny of the investment involved, and demands from some taxpayers that the networks should be financially self-sufficient. That pressure has pushed the industry to consider many new business models, borrowing ideas like the advertising embedded in text messages or commercials that play over cell phones, she said. Others have asked government regulators to force content providers to bundle free wireless access with existing cable television, phone service, wired Internet access, VOIP (voice over Internet Protocol) and IP television packages. However, Vos is passionate that governments should not insist that municipal Wi-Fi pay for itself, just as they don't require public utilities and paved highways to run at a profit. Governments throughout Europe already support public networks that way, not only in urban centers like Stockholm, Paris, Amsterdam and Milan, but throughout rural regions, she said. In the meantime, municipal technology leaders in the U.S. should continue to hone their skills at expanding coverage and supporting reliable service. "There have been a lot of negative stories in the press recently, saying 'these things don't work'," Vos said. "But people are learning from their mistakes. If you have to use 40 nodes instead of 20 nodes to cover the area, we can learn from that."ADVERTISEMENTIBM Information On Demand 2006Industrial Industry Leaders, please join us at IBM's premier information management global event, IBM Information On Demand 2006, October 15-20, Anaheim, CA. More IBM business and technical solutions content in one place than ever before! Select from  over 800 sessions. Register today!
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Overseas WLAN access at no extra charge - for now
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By Clint Swett, The Sacramento Bee, Calif.  Jun. 21--Two low-income housing communities in Sacramento will offer their residents free Wi-Fi Internet access and computers later this fall.
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San Francisco&#39;s mayor set a goal on Thursday of providing free wireless Internet connection citywide. &quot;We will not stop until every San Franciscan has access to free wireless Internet service,&quot; Gavin Newsom
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HARRISBURG, Pa., Nov. 30 -- The city of Philadelphia and Verizon Communications Inc. struck an agreement Tuesday that would allow the city to provide wireless Internet access as a municipal service even if Gov. Edward G. Rendell (D) signs legislation to give Verizon the power to scuttle the project.
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By Clint Swett, The Sacramento Bee, Calif.  Jun. 18--After more than a year of fits and starts, Sacramento is on the verge of approving a system that would blanket the city with free and paid wireless Internet coverage for both residents and visitors.
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The airwaves in the city of Riverside, California, just got a lot more crowded as the city switches on its municipal wireless network. Yet, for many living in the inland empire's capital city, the free internet service isn't a bonus, it's a burden.
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By Jerri Stroud, St. Louis Post-Dispatch  Feb. 10--AT&T Inc. will start building a wireless network for Internet  access in downtown St. Louis as soon as the city issues permits, the company  said Friday after the Board of Aldermen approved its proposal.
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Meraki, a wireless-networking startup, announced plans on Friday to deploy a citywide wireless network that will provide free Internet access for every neighborhood in San Francisco.
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How cool would this be? Free WiFi for everyone in San Francisco. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom set a goal Thursday of providing free wireless Internet activity in his city.
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Alexandria is going wireless. The city is close to a signing a 21st-century agreement to build a citywide wireless network. Anyone with a laptop computer equipped for wireless access will be able to connect to the Internet from virtually anywhere in the city with the purchase of a $21-per-month...
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The nation's largest municipal Wi-Fi cloud will blanket Philadelphia by the summer of 2006 &#151; with Internet access free in public parks and steeply discounted for low-income residents.
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InfoWorld - The next generation of portable wireless Internet access is available in Seattle through a Clearwire trial service.
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The grand city of Philadelphia unveiled today an ambitious plan to coat the city with Wi-Fi, using a mix of public and private funds to provide the service.
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By Alexis Grant, Matt Stiles, Houston Chronicle  Feb. 14--Here are some answers to frequently asked questions about municipal Wi-Fi.
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Philadelphia has finished testing  its wireless Internet project, setting the stage for America&#39;s  biggest citywide Wi-Fi network that will also offer access to  low-income households, officials said on Thursday.