City Wi-Fi Sounds Great, If It Can Really Connect

[SOURCE: Small Business Pipeline , AUTHOR: J. Nicholas Hoover]
[Commentary] City-subsidized municipal wireless, aimed at providing better services and a broadband connection to residents who otherwise couldn't get one because of cost or location, is in its earliest stages of development. With unproven technology and business models, cities face risks. Signal strength is one issue. Hot-spot-happy Wi-Fi doesn't reach everywhere. Cities also must be prepared for times when networks get flooded with visitors, a concern with some of the current bandwidth limitations of Wi-Fi access points. Legislation could yet stop some cities in their tracks. A Pennsylvania law pushed by Verizon, one of the telecom companies that could lose broadband customers to cheap municipal Wi-Fi, gives local carriers the right to block cities from setting up services. Last year, Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) introduced a federal bill to limit how city governments offer broadband services. Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) followed Sessions' lead in his larger telecommunications bill. While the phone companies view municipal Wi-Fi as a threat, those in the tech industry who see opportunity have political allies. Intel last year supported a rival bill from Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) to place decisions about local broadband networks in the hands of local councils. All of this creates enough uncertainty for pause. Wireless everywhere is a great concept, but with millions of dollars at stake in each city, it had better work.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/cmp/20060228/tc_cmp/181400518