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Portland is the latest city that wants free Wi-Fi access for residents

More and more US cities are now thinking about implementing some sort of free or cost effective Wi-Fi service for residents.  San Francisco, Philadelphia and Grand Rapids are several examples of cities that have already started the process of offering a Wi-Fi service within city boundaries.  MetroFI has won a contract to build the municipal Wi-Fi network for Portland, the city recently announced.  According to MetroFi, the financial costs will lie solely with the company, while the city will not have to pay anything.  Local and national advertisers will support the free Internet service, with ad-free Internet available for $20 per month.  A PR Newswire press release states:

"We are proud to partner with MetroFi in this effort to blanket the city of Portland with wireless Internet access," said Portland's mayor, Tom Potter. "MetroFi has demonstrated its commitment to bridging the digital divide by offering both free and low-cost alternatives for broadband access on an open provider network."

The company beat out two rival companies, including EarthLink -- although since EarthLink has won contracts in Philadelphia, Milpitas, San Francisco and Anaheim, the loss isn't a major blow to the company.  Along with Portland, MetroFI will also build a Wi-Fi network in Aurora, Illinois.

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....
By magomago on 4/14/2006 3:22:32 AM , Rating: 1
I thought there was supposed to be national legislature against this kind of stuff (not saying I'm opposed, but I know some parts of the communications industry are against the whole free wifi thing)




RE: ....
By PseudoKnight on 4/14/2006 5:02:26 AM , Rating: 2
I live in the Portland area. What kind of 'ads' are they talking about? I assume this would require special software then?


RE: ....
By SunAngel on 4/14/2006 7:55:19 AM , Rating: 2
The ads are similiar to the way Google does it today. They are in side windows on the outs of the browser window.

While being free and all is good, with so many users online at one time browsing is just like dial-up. I really never see any speed until after 10pm. I guess this is when most people have left the city and have gone home.

Oh, and its more like hot spots and not city-wide unobstructed service. So, if you city decides to get it don't think for one minute you will be able to cancel your current broadband and ride the wave of free wi-fi. You'll be sorely dissappointed.


RE: ....
By PseudoKnight on 4/14/2006 10:51:35 PM , Rating: 2
I was thinking of getting a wifi card for my bro since he doesn't want to spend money for the internet.


RE: ....
By PseudoKnight on 4/14/2006 5:06:06 AM , Rating: 2
The legislature that you're thinking of wouldn't block free wifi that's not funded by the government. (unless I'm mistaken) I don't think it's federal legislature anyway.


RE: ....
By glennpratt on 4/16/2006 12:14:26 PM , Rating: 2
Legislation?


Grrr
By creathir on 4/14/06, Rating: 0
RE: Grrr
By stephenbrooks on 4/14/06, Rating: 0
RE: Grrr
By lebe0024 on 4/14/2006 10:50:18 AM , Rating: 2
I usually hate city wide internet also -- because I hate socialism. This isn't paid for by taxes. In fact, the city doesn't pay for it at all. I'm all for it.


RE: Grrr
By rushfan2006 on 4/14/2006 10:52:35 AM , Rating: 2
Not quite socialism...but I agree with you still silly it you ask me.


RE: Grrr
By TheBaker on 4/14/2006 10:59:09 AM , Rating: 4
quote:
Gotta love socialism...


Wow, you're wrong again.
Socialism is when a service is provided by the government and paid for by the taxpayers.
In this case, the service is provided by an independent company and paid for by advertisers. That's called capitalism.

Hmmm.....What else does that remind me of? It's right on the tip of my tongue.....Gosh, what was it? That box in the den with all the pretty lights and noises coming out of it.


1st complete wifi city
By craftyguy on 4/14/2006 11:11:45 AM , Rating: 2
it's great how nobody seems to realize that corpus christi, tx is the 1st complete wifi city.




RE: 1st complete wifi city
By slsmnaz on 4/14/2006 5:07:47 PM , Rating: 2
Tempe, AZ was officially the first.


I love free
By HistoryTeacher on 4/14/2006 5:00:43 PM , Rating: 2
But as I remind my students: nothing is free. BTW, what happens when the government begins to regulate and tax this "free" service? What happens when the government begins to regulate speech on this "free" service? It is owned by the government and as the Supreme Court recently reminded us the Constitution is a mostly irrelevant document written by a bunch of dead, white, elitists from the 18th century.

NOTHING IS FREE!




RE: I love free
By glennpratt on 4/16/2006 12:22:01 PM , Rating: 2
Wow... I do believe you'd make a terrible history teacher. If you come on this silly thread about WiFi and feel the need to spout off about the constitution, you clearly have issues. I don't know what ruling your talking about, but the only one I can think of is the eminant domain issue. Care to elaborate? Or did I misread your sarcasm?


municiple?
By Bremen7000 on 4/14/2006 7:52:16 AM , Rating: 2
Run it through Word or something! municipal




Personally, I'd rather have...
By Shadowself on 4/14/2006 9:35:48 AM , Rating: 2
something like this:

http://www.iprovo.net

Currently 10 Mbps up and down then going to 20 Mbps within a couple years.

While Wi-Fi has the theoretical maximum of 54 Mbps this is shared bandwidth. An individual user in a crowded neighborhood might only get less than 5% of that bandwidth (2.5 Mbps or less).

I'd gladly pay the $39.95 for a dedicated 10 Mbps line -- if it were only available in my area.




Municipal.............
By Dfere on 4/14/2006 11:32:54 AM , Rating: 2
As in Municipality.

BTW I only pay 19.00 a month now in Cleveland, little banners, and I get a discount on my cell for doing it too..............




Personal Telco Project
By ViRGE on 4/14/2006 2:17:33 PM , Rating: 2
It'll be interesting to see how this affects the Personal Telco Project(http://www.personaltelco.net), a grassroots wifi group. While they don't cover the whole city, they have still set up an impressive & free hotspot network around the city. Since they're ad-less, I'm sure they'll hit MetroFi's bottom-line in shared locations, so we'll see if MetroFi will play nicely with regards to their co-existence, such as channel crowding.




The Importance of Connectivity...
By IceT on 4/14/2006 2:24:08 PM , Rating: 2
Once again, it illustrates the importance of connectivity in today's information society and creating A Network Society (Castells)...

.Eric




By bpurkapi on 4/15/2006 11:10:53 PM , Rating: 2
In Portland you pretty much have 3 options: Comcast: expensive, DSL: still pricey for its speed, and then dialup. I have comcast and it costs me around 100 bucks a month for the hd dvr cable, and internet, this wireless network is so those who don't have money to burn can get on the net for cheap or free. Plus the city doesn't have to pay a dime, no tax stuff either, its a good deal overall.




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