Word: wirelessed
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Harvard is cracking down on computer users who are hogging bandwidth and blocking their neighbors from logging online. But the effort hasn’t helped some River House residents who still complain that they can’t get a consistent wireless signal from their dorms...
...citywide access? Will advertising sustain free models? And will users really be attracted to a network that lacks speed, security and privacy? The risks are considerable--up to $25 million in capital costs per system plus operating funds. "Half the cities run into funding barriers," says Peter Orne, Wireless Internet Institute's editorial director. "We're still waiting for an unqualified big-city success...
Communities are nonetheless welcoming wireless--public or private--because building a wi-fi network is a steal compared with laying cable, which can cost 10 times as much. Over the next three years, U.S. towns will pony up nearly $700 million to build municipal networks, predicts MuniWireless.com As a public utility, wi-fi has undeniable benefits. City workers can use low-cost VOIP (voice-over-Internet protocol), and police and firefighters have a high-speed bandwidth for on-the-go access to data like criminal records and building plans or live shots from security cameras...
...public service has serious issues like network congestion and security," says Eric Rabe, Verizon's senior vice president for media relations. "Do you really want your government handling your e-mail?" Public outrage caused the telco fight to fizzle, with many bills getting killed or modified. City wireless is set to become a $1.2 billion market by 2010, according to analyst firm ABI Research; AT&T, Verizon and Sprint Nextel spin-off Embarq are looking to cash in, snapping up their own municipal deals in places like Springfield, Ill., and Riverside, Calif. And Comcast Ventures has invested in BelAir Networks...
...with Internet ad king Google for gratis services, but they're still debating what will be free, and this model is far from proven. "Relying solely on ads is a misplaced dream to fund a multimillion-dollar network," says Craig Settles, author of Fighting the Good Fight for Municipal Wireless. MobilePro Corp. pulled out of its Sacramento, Calif., deal when the city insisted that the company offer a free service, believing ads wouldn't generate enough money. But Annapolis Wireless Internet says switching to a free model made its product viable. Its two-mile network, which is expanding, has over...