Eric Friedebach
EF2
Bye-Bye Wi-Fi?
Orlando Kills Municipal Wi-Fi Project
David M. Ewalt, 06.23.05, Forbes.com
NEW YORK - No more free Web surfing for Mickey Mouse. The city of Orlando, Fla., has cancelled a pilot program that offered free wireless Internet access to visitors at a downtown park, saying that the service wasn't popular enough to justify the cost.
The cancellation may give fuel to opponents of municipal wireless deployments. But experts say it's likely a poor implementation, and that free wireless networks across the country, while few and far between, are usually successful, particularly when paired with a particular business interest or group of people who want to get online.
"I'm generally skeptical about free Wi-Fi, but I haven't seen a trend where these are getting turned off," says Yankee Group analyst Berge Ayvazian. "I'm a bit surprised that Orlando shut it down."
Orlando's downtown wireless district pilot project was launched in January 2004 and provided free Internet access to computer users in a downtown area including Lake Eola Park, Wall Street Plaza and parts of Orange Avenue. It was designed to support as many as 200 users at once, but only about 27 people a day were using it. City officials kept the system running for 17 months--long past the initially planned six-month trial period--but eventually concluded that low user rates didn't justify the $1,800 per month it took to keep the system running.
A spokesman for the city says they're going to explore other options about how to fund the network, including corporate sponsorships, and that it might bring the free network back at some point in the future.
Municipal wireless deployments can be big business for hardware vendors like Cisco Systems and Nortel Networks. But networks like Orlando's have come under attack from citizens who don't want tax dollars funding the projects, as well as from telecommunications providers who say the cities are competing with private enterprise.
Earlier this year Texas legislators introduced a bill to ban municipal networks, based on the assertion that state and local governments should be prevented from delivering telecommunications services. The bill died in committee in May. Similar bills have been proposed in Indiana and nearly a dozen other states. In December, the state of Pennsylvania actually passed a law that prevents cities from creating and charging money for municipal Wi-Fi if it competes with private businesses.
more:
http://www.forbes.com/technology/2005/06/2...e_0623wifi.html
Orlando Kills Municipal Wi-Fi Project
David M. Ewalt, 06.23.05, Forbes.com
NEW YORK - No more free Web surfing for Mickey Mouse. The city of Orlando, Fla., has cancelled a pilot program that offered free wireless Internet access to visitors at a downtown park, saying that the service wasn't popular enough to justify the cost.
The cancellation may give fuel to opponents of municipal wireless deployments. But experts say it's likely a poor implementation, and that free wireless networks across the country, while few and far between, are usually successful, particularly when paired with a particular business interest or group of people who want to get online.
"I'm generally skeptical about free Wi-Fi, but I haven't seen a trend where these are getting turned off," says Yankee Group analyst Berge Ayvazian. "I'm a bit surprised that Orlando shut it down."
Orlando's downtown wireless district pilot project was launched in January 2004 and provided free Internet access to computer users in a downtown area including Lake Eola Park, Wall Street Plaza and parts of Orange Avenue. It was designed to support as many as 200 users at once, but only about 27 people a day were using it. City officials kept the system running for 17 months--long past the initially planned six-month trial period--but eventually concluded that low user rates didn't justify the $1,800 per month it took to keep the system running.
A spokesman for the city says they're going to explore other options about how to fund the network, including corporate sponsorships, and that it might bring the free network back at some point in the future.
Municipal wireless deployments can be big business for hardware vendors like Cisco Systems and Nortel Networks. But networks like Orlando's have come under attack from citizens who don't want tax dollars funding the projects, as well as from telecommunications providers who say the cities are competing with private enterprise.
Earlier this year Texas legislators introduced a bill to ban municipal networks, based on the assertion that state and local governments should be prevented from delivering telecommunications services. The bill died in committee in May. Similar bills have been proposed in Indiana and nearly a dozen other states. In December, the state of Pennsylvania actually passed a law that prevents cities from creating and charging money for municipal Wi-Fi if it competes with private businesses.
more:
http://www.forbes.com/technology/2005/06/2...e_0623wifi.html
