The Fight Over Wireless

[SOURCE: Slate, AUTHOR: Adam L. Penenberg]
Imagine if the town you live in transformed into one gigantic wireless hot spot overnight. You could feed parking meters with your MasterCard instead of hunting for quarters. Utility companies might read meters in real time and pass the savings on to customers. The next time you saw a pothole, you could instantly e-mail a camera phone photo to city hall. Municipal wireless wouldn't just make life easier for citizens -- it has the potential to save lives. Firefighters would be able to turn traffic lights green as they race to put out a blaze. Police could tap into a bank's surveillance cameras to get a head start on cracking a heist. And emergency responders would be able to communicate during a natural disaster or terrorist attack, a need that became obvious in the aftermath of 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina. This wireless fantasy land, where wireless is as much a public utility as water and electricity, has become irresistible to hundreds of cities. But it will remain fantasy if telecommunications industry lobbyists continue to hold sway over state and federal policymakers.
http://www.slate.com/id/2128632/fr/nl/