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Join us at the Wireless Report This blog has been "retired." Current Wireless Industry news can be found at: The Wireless Report The following blogs are now part of The Wireless Report. The Unofficial Bluetooth Weblog The RFID Weblog The Ultra Wideband Weblog The WiFi Weblog The WiMax Weblog The WIreless Weblog The Wireless Development Weblog Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments ... More Two U.S. Cities Make Top 10 Hotspot List A new survey by JiWire has placed San Francisco and New York as two of the top 10 global cities with hotspots. San Francisco currently has 801 hotspots and New York has 643. The rest of the top 10 is as follows: Top 10 Cities Seoul--2,056 Tokyo--1,802 London--1,627 Paris--895 San Francisco--801 Daegu--787 New York--643 Singapore--619 Busan--617 Hong Kong--605 Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments ... More WiMax Playing Catch-Up With WiFi Because of the continued delaying of certification of at least 30 WiMax-enabled products by Spain's Cetecom Labs, many analysts say WiMax is in danger of falling increasingly behind WiFi. In addition, with more citywide wireless initiatives popping up across the country, most if not all are turning to WiFi technology to provide wide range access to users. Obviously, WiMax supporters want to make sure their products do what they're supposed to do, but they may eventually have to be deployed overseas to prove their worth before finally finding a place in the U.S. Of course, the pending field trials will certainly tell a huge part of the story. Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments ... More Cheeseheads Going Wireless Cities all across the state of Wisconsin are increasingly ramping up wireless network access. Milwaukee and Madison are now in the throes of developing citywide networks, and now Green Bay is seeking to join the party. As of now, most of the WiFi access in and around the area is limited to the standard coffee shops and other establishments, but the state is seeing more agreements between cities that will allow users to log on from either their own home area or someplace nearby, all for one fee. It kind of warms the heart when the Cheeseheads are now joining the wireless revolution, doesn't it? Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments ... More Rhode Island's Wireless Network to Undergo Pilot Program If you've ever driven through Rhode Island on Interstate Route 95, you'll know that you can pass through the state in a little over an hour (especially for those of us who have a heavy right foot!). In any case, it looks like the long-in-the-works Rhode Island Wireless Innovation Networks (RI-WINs) initiative may finally get underway in the form of a pilot phase next month. According to officials, the network will be aimed at govermental employees, especially first responders, as well as private companies who employ a number of mobile workers. Example applications include dash cameras to report information back to agency headquarters, real-time access to law enforcement databases, distance learning, and home health care monitoring. What excites those involved with the project is that because Rhode Island is so small, it really can be classified as a statewide municipal wireless network. In addition, operating costs are projected to be around $5 million a year for the whole state, and annual revenue is projected to be over $6 million, to be gained through access fees from private users. This certainly seems like a win-win for the Rhode Island. Obviously, the pilot program will tell us a lot more about usage and access, but the wireless signs seem to be pointing up for the Ocean State. Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments ... More New Book Depicts Wireless Philadelphia's Story With all the discussion about the Wireless Philadelphia project over the last year and change, it was inevitable that someone would actually write a book about the entire process. Craig Settles, a marketing consultant, has self-published "Fighting the Good Fight for Municipal Wireless: Applying Lessons From Philadelphia's WiFi Story" through Hudson House Publishing. According to the publishers, the book functions as a roadmap for using municipal wireless and mobile workforce applications to cut costs and run a better, more responsive government operation. The book describes how the initiative made its way through the system and features interviews with some of the major players involved with the effort. It also aims to serve as a guide for other municipalities to leverage when considering citywide wireless networks. I've put in a request to Hudson House for a review copy and hope to have a positive response from them very soon. If I can get my hands on the book, I will post a review as soon as possible. Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments ... More EarthLink, Motorola Strike Muni WiFi Service/Equipment Agreement As if EarthLink didn't have a big enough jump on the competition to build and deploy citywide wireless networks, they've announced an agreement with Motorola who will provide equipment and services for the cities where EarthLink has begun setting up networks, including Philadelphia and Anaheim. According to the agreement, Motorola will install network equipment from their suppliers, as well as their own products, on city light poles to form a wireless mesh to allow access from just about anywhere within a given location. Obviously, this is a big deal because EarthLink can certainly submit proposals for future projects knowing that they have a powerhouse like Motorola behind them so that equipment questions can be answered quickly. Of course, there may be more agreements like this coming down the pike to give competitors a chance, so we'll see what happens. Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments ... More Taipei WiFi Network Advances It seems the capital city of Taiwan, Taipei, is well on its way to become the largest city in the world to have a citywide wireless network. Managed by a private company under the aegis of the city government, the network features over 3,000 access points to cover half of the city's 106 square miles for its 2.6 million residents. According to city officials, the project will cover 90% of the city by the middle of this year. The story also mentions that the network will succeed because nearly 9 in 10 Taipei households have at least one PC and over a third of the population is familiar with wireless Internet service. As a result, there's no need for a large learning curve and users will be able to take immediate advantage of the network. As with many U.S. citywide networks, there has been pushback from the phone companies who have lobbied city and state governments to keep these initiatives from getting off the ground. But just like anywhere else, the demand is just too great to keep down. Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments ... More Citywide Networks Owe It to The Little Guy Interesting story in the New York Times by Glenn Fleishmann about community wireless networking groups who get together to place antennas anywhere possible to create a wireless cloud. And, of course, make wireless access available for free to anyone who wants it. As we well know, the big cities are enlisting big companies to build citywide networks, and with their combined economical and technological power, it's pretty much a given that these small collectives would be pushed aside. However, the point is that these massive citywide projects wouldn't have even gotten off the ground without groups like NYCwireless or Seattle Wireless making it possible for friends and neighbors to get wireless access from each other and having the concept grow from there. Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments ... More Is Boston's WiFi Initiative Enough to Cover the City? The city of Boston is currently deploying a public wireless netowrk (Boston Main Streets WiFi) available in four commercial districts--Hyde Park; Roslindale; Washington Gateway, and West Roxbury. In partnership with three network providers (Airpath Wireless, Ascio Wireless, and Colubris Networks), the network is funded through a combination of donations and advertising revenue. It seems like a nice idea, but what about the rest of Boston. Where will these people and businesses be able to access a broader network? The initiative does have some expansion plans, but may not be enough to cover the entire city. We'll have to keep tabs on this project to see how it will address the other parts of Boston. Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments ... More Milwaukee Going Wireless Looks like the city of beer, cheese, and the Brewers, Milwaukee, is about to go wireless. The city has reached an agreement with Midwest Fiber Networks to develop and deploy the citywide network at a cost of roughly $20 million dollars with a launch date of mid-2008. No taxpayer money will be used to build the network, however users will be expected to pay monthly fee (about $20) to access the service. A city council committee is expected to ratify the deal within the next couple of days. Just as mostly everyone else is doing these days, Milwaukee's intention in building this network is to attract business. Will it do so? Who knows for sure, but it certainly can't hurt. Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments ... More 802.11n Takes A Big Step Toward Reality Supporters of the 802.11n WiFi standard which, according to them, will "breathe new life" into the wireless networking technology, got some good news this week when the Enhanced Wireless Consortium passed a joint proposal by a 40-0 vote. Their proposal will now go in front of the IEEE at its meeting next week. It is believed that 802.11n WiFi is estimated to be nearly five times faster than 802.11g, and up to 50 times faster than 802.11b. It would make sense that those municipalities looking to deploy a citywide wireless network pay particular attention to this development, although the standard won't be ratified until (most likely) the end of this year. Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments ... More Boeing Lowers Cost of Connexion In-Flight WiFi Service Effective January 31, the price of Boeing's Connexion service, which allows travelers on nine international airlines, including El Al, Korean Air, and Lufthansa,to surf the Web wirelessly in-flight will be reduced to $26.95 for 24 hours of unlimited access. At this time, the service has not yet been made available by any U.S.-based airline, but there is discussion amongst the FCC, the FAA, and the airline industry to make in-flight WiFi access a reality in the not-too-distant future.   Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments ... More Get Your WiFi At Stop & Shop The growth of WiFi access may soon spread to supermarkets with the announcement by the Stop & Shop chain that it will be deploying free WiFi access throughout their chain of stores in the Northeast. The company has contracted with ICOA Inc. to manage the store networks. So as you navigate your way through the fruit and vegetable section, you'll be able to surf the web. Look for other supermarket chains to join in the fray very soon. Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments ... More Salem, Oregon Considering Wireless Network City council members in Salem, Oregon will be investigating the possibility of developing and deploying a citywide wireless network accessible to residents of the community. Like most other municipalities that are considering the wireless route, they will be choosing a private firm to build the network and will allow that company to receive cash or access to city property to install the necessary equipment. Plans call for users to pay daily and/or monthly fees as well as investigating ways where low-income users can access the network. As is the case with most of these citywide wireless networks, Salem is hoping that their network will attract business and workers to their community. Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments ... More Hartford's Mayor Describes Citywide Wireless Plans Another Connecticut city, Hartford, also is contemplating a wireless network. In today's Hartford Courant, Mayor Eddie Perez discusses the citywide wireless initiative and says the free network will provide access to all residents, and there is a plan in place to provide low-cost computer equipment to lower-income residents. Like New Haven, Hartford also has some economically depressed areas, and it is essential that the wireless network be accessible to all and not just a few. Mayor Perez says the city is looking to partner with a private company to build the network and the plan is to roll out the network to the entire city within the next two years. Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments ... More New Haven Set to Go Wireless The city of New Haven, Connecticut is contemplating a citywide wireless network to be launched later this year. The city says it will issue an RFP next month in the hopes that the network will attract business and new technological opportunities to various parts of the city. There is a concern from some city officials that New Haven's low-income residents don't have the computers, much less the money, to access this network, and this is something that must be addressed quickly for this initiative to move forward. There has been talk of developing a program to recycle old computers and to also create community access centers in areas facing economic development problems. Of course, it all comes down to how much it will cost to build this network as well how much people are willing to pay to access it. New Haven is home to Yale University, but there are some very economically depressed areas here as well, so smart planning is essential in this case. Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments ... More Another Arizona City Set to Go Wireless This week will determine whether or not the city of Chandler, Arizona (right outside of Phoenix) will follow their neighbor Tempe's steps in developing and deploying a citywide wireless network. City Council members will meet tomorrow with NeoReach Wireless, the folks who built the Tempe network along with others including Sacramento and Akron, Ohio, to see if their plan to place antennas and radio units on city street lights will be sufficient enough to wireless service to residents and businesses. Plans for Chandler call for users to pay $3.95 per day or $29.95 per month for unlimited access anywhere in the city. If the plan is approved, the city would allow NeoReach to mount equipment on city street lights and to use up to $15,000 in electricity per year in exchange for 3,000 free network subscriptions for city employees on city business. Construction is expected to begin in March. Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments ... More Pilot System to Determine Miami's Future Wireless Plans Two Miami Beach neighborhoods--North Beach and South Beach--have been desginated by city officials as part of a pilot testing program to determine if free wireless Internet access will be viable throughout the rest of the city of Miami. IBM and Wireless Facilities Inc. were given permission to set up antennas in both locations in order to see if their systems meet the requirements of 95 percent coverage over their specific geographical areas. The testing begins on Jan. 20 and will be monitored by a consulting firm hired by the city who will be presenting results to Miami's Finance and Citywide Projects Committee on Jan. 30. Officials are expected to make a final decision on which company will be awarded the opportunity to build a citywide network at their Feb. 8 meeting. The network is estimated to cost around $4 million to build, and should be up and running within six months. However, there are a number of ISPs who aren't happy about the city possibly giving away access for free, and rest assured there will be a heavy dose of lobbying and marketing on both sides to push their agenda across. In any event, you can pretty much cross off Miami as the next major metropolitan area that will be getting some sort of citywide wireless network in the near future. Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments ... More Dubuque Looks to Upgrade Its Image by Going Wireless As part of a 10-point program to revitalize and modernize itself and attract younger workers, the city of Dubuque, Iowa is contemplating the construction and deployment of a citywide wireless network.  According to the president of a local online information website, young workers are "expecting" fo find wireless Internet access where they live. In any case, Dubuque is ready to invest millions of dollars to revamp its old image as an industrial town, so this certainly is an opportunity for companies looking to get a toehold on the citywide wireless phenomenon and submit proposals. Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments ... More