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Municipal WiFi: The Coda

2010; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 17; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/10630732.2010.515090

1466-1853

Harvey C. Jassem,

Advanced MIMO Systems Optimization

Abstract There was a time when municipal WiFi was being touted as the next big thing. Authors, and I was one of them, wrote glowingly about the coming revolution that would transform sleepy old towns and cities into modern metropolises hospitable to widespread wireless Internet use. The digital divide between rich and poor would be bridged. Industries would move into these twenty-first century telecommunication Meccas, and municipalities would have sophisticated communication systems that would help them more effectively govern and protect. More importantly, municipalities and entrepreneurs began pouring millions of dollars into these municipal WiFi projects. Industries arose to support the build-outs. Consultants filled the information gap. That was 2006–2007. More recently, the bloom appears to have fallen off the rose. Major projects shut down just as they were starting up, and the writers are now pointing to the death of municipal WiFi. What happened that might help explain the rather sudden apparent shift from a spirited boom in municipal WiFi to its alleged demise? And is that alleged demise a sign of the end or another beginning in the broadbanding of American cities? This article examines the recent history of U.S. urban municipal WiFi projects in search of lessons to be learned from the changes and assesses important next steps. Notes WiFi (or “Wi-Fi”) is the common name for a set of technical standards for short-range wireless communication established by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) as 802.11. In order for electronic communication to take place, transmitters and receivers must operate with the same technological parameters, hence the need for standards. The 802.11 standards have evolved in order to permit faster and more robust communications. In this article, the common term “WiFi” refers to any and all variations of 802.11 devices. The definition of “broadband” is relative and something of a moving target with ever-increasing expectations for the ability to carry large amounts of information to and from a large number of users. (See Crandall, Citation2005) The International Telecommunication Union (ITU, Citation2003) notes that “since broadband technologies are always changing, the definition of broadband also continues to evolve. Today, the term broadband typically describes recent Internet connections that range from five times to 2,000 times faster than earlier Internet dial-up technologies. However, the term broadband does not refer to either a certain speed or a specific service.” The transfer of such information may be accomplished through “wired” or “wireless” systems, each with its own set of strengths and weaknesses. A recent study suggests that “race and ethnicity matter independently of other related factors such as income and education in the demand for DSL broadband Internet connection” (Prieger, Citation2008:165).