In a featured artice by Ashley Bach in yesterday’s Seattle Times:
“The core of downtown Bellevue will be getting free wireless Internet access in the next few weeks.
Workers this week are installing 28 wireless boxes on street lights and utility poles to provide Web access in a 150-acre “hot zone.” The coverage area stretches from Bellevue Square to Meydenbauer Center, between Northeast Fourth and Eighth streets and curving slightly south to include Downtown Park.” see complete article
We live in an exciting time. Now I don’t have to park in Barnes and Noble parking lot to pick up a signal in Bellevue! I’m so for blanketing the world with free wireless, like radio signals, then I can get rid of my sprint wireless card that I’m paying $60/month for. Yeah, City of Bellevue
One step closer to ubiquitous wireless. Very cool!
Dustin, do you see this happening everywhere? How will ubiquitous wireless change the wireless business?
My money is on municipal wireless clouds covering neighborhoods and cities within the next 3-5 years. WiMax may change everything …
Will municipals flloat bonds for these installs? Got any ideas you want to share about how wimax will change things?
I’m with Jim that many cities will use wifi (and WiMax in particular) to demonstrate that they have a competitive advantage. I could easily see it being installed in the major west coast cities (at least the relatively dense areas) in the next couple of years.
I hope that Starbucks rethinks it’s policy of charging for internet service. Dustin, do you think it will pose a security risk or do we already have adequate protection?
Eileen,
I’m not sure what security risk you’re worried about… The internet could easily be labeled “one big security risk” so any effort to extend the reach of the internet definitely poses some risks. But, the reality is that the internet is here to stay, so people with sensitive data will need to continually improve their education on how they protect their computers and servers!
Here is a story via digg that talks about Microsoft’s entry into the municipal wireless realm –
http://www.computers.net/2006/11/microsoft_relea.html
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/54270.html
Thanks Jim, Great article.
Dustin, what I’m worried about it that I’ve always been told that wireless isn’t secure that when you’re on an open system like that that others can get into your computer. Not so?
I know that at the office, Jon put us on DSL instead of wireless for security purposes.
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