Who is going to run citywide WiFi better -- cities or private companies?
Posted Jun 30th 2006 2:45PM by Brian White
Filed under: WiFi, DIY, Hardware
We've talked about this at length in some recent podcasts -- so what's your opinion? Should citywide WiFi networks be run by cities with tax dollars subsidizing part or all of the service, or should private industry --
a company like MobilePro -- run citywide WiFi networks?
With broadband internet access no longer some kind of luxury item -- but being a mode of communication essential to everyday life -- this is a tough question to answer. In many cases,
privatization works wonders and ends up being the best choice -- but how about here? We're interested to hear our reader's comments on this one.
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1. It needs to be the cities as a minimum, but really both are likely for the following reasons:
(1) the cities need to manage their own wireless infrastructure so they can manage packet priority for their public safety orgs when they need it - first response and event reporting into a common operating picture view of the cities health at all times. This protects them from the major weakness of cellular systems today which treat all as equal and hence fail everyone. In addition, the cities should be able to run these as public networks either offered free or at a premium. In either case the public data must be treated as a second class citizen in time of crisis. City of Anaheim is a classic example of this today. They have their network up for 'internal' use only at present and will at some stage open it up to the public.
(2) It's all about service in the long run. If private companies maintain their own infrastructure and move with the technology as it advances their service will always win if it provides value over and above a free public network.
Posted at 3:04AM on Jul 1st 2006 by carrier pigeon