Talk of Taipei: First Citywide Wi-Fi Access

[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Jason Dean jason.dean@wsj.com, Jesse Drucker & Chiu Piling]
The Taiwanese capital of Taipei is building what is expected to soon become the world's first citywide wireless-computer network in a major metropolis. The network, initiated by the Taipei city government and built by a private company, already includes more than 3,300 wireless "access points" that cover half the city's 106 square miles. The devices use the wireless Internet technology known as Wi-Fi to let Taipei's 2.6 million residents surf the Internet or send emails from the privacy of their living rooms or the public comfort of their favorite park benches. Although the project has encountered some glitches and delays, city officials say that when it is completed around midyear, it will cover more than 90% of Taipei. Taiwan's efforts have put it ahead of big cities in the U.S., where dozens of local governments have announced plans to build citywide wireless networks to provide the public with low-cost Internet access. The trend is prompting Internet companies like Google Inc. and EarthLink Inc. to enter the fray, offering Internet services in direct competition with the high-speed access provided by existing telecom and cable carriers like Verizon Communications Inc. and Comcast Corp. The Wi-Fi networks also threaten to vie for customers with wireless broadband services offered by companies like Sprint Nextel Corp. and Cingular Wireless, owned by AT&T Inc. and BellSouth Corp. The first movers in the U.S. were mainly smaller towns -- places like Granbury, Texas, and Scottsburg, Ind. -- that had little or no access to high-speed service from telephone and cable companies. In the last year or so, however, Wi-Fi plans have been announced for some of the country's biggest cities.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB113762531033150131.html?mod=todays_us_marketplace
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