Advocates of Wi-Fi in Cities Learn Art of Politics

[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Glenn Fleishman]
The idea of building citywide wireless networks from the community level was suspiciously simple back in 2000, although the plans sounded like the work of underground revolutionaries. First, build home-brew Wi-Fi antennas and develop software to make outdoor wireless networks affordable and practical. Second, persuade thousands of people in each city to stick Wi-Fi antennas out their windows, on their roofs or in their places of business to serve collectively as the nodes of a network. Third, link those thousands of nodes into neighborhood networks that would themselves connect into a cloud of free citywide Wi-Fi coverage. But Step 2 was never completed. While attendance at some community networking groups has plummeted and some smaller groups have disappeared, their technical and political impact has never been higher. Wireless advocates no longer dangle dangerously from rooftops mounting antennas built inside potato-chip cans, although some still provide technical help to business owners and nonprofit groups in creating free Wi-Fi hot spots.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/19/technology/circuits/19wifi.html
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