i dont know if this is cost effective and if it'll just be another city utility/monopoly with absurd rates...but it definitely is really cool. Oct. 31, 2006, 10:47PM White solicits ideas, space to help city WiFi network Businesses' rooftops needed; vendor finalists remain unknown By ALEXIS GRANT Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle Mayor Bill White asked business leaders Tuesday to help establish a citywide wireless Internet network by offering both their expertise and access to their buildings for transmitter sites. The city has narrowed the search for a vendor to two companies and hopes to choose one by the end of the year to finance and build the Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) network. Though most of the 15,000 small transmitter nodes needed for the project will be placed on city light poles, the vendor also will need sites, mainly on top of buildings, for 100 to 150 base stations to connect the network. "I will be bargaining hard to make sure there's a fair and transparent and competitive deal for the access to the rooftops that we need in the city of Houston," White said. He suggested $1,000 per month per location as a reasonable fee. Some business leaders who heard White speak at the Greater Houston Partnership's annual technology conference left disappointed that he hadn't announced which company the city had chosen for the project. Months ago, the announcement had been planned for Tuesday, but complications in negotiations forced the city to draw a new timeline about six weeks ago, said Richard Lewis, the city's director of information technology. Instead, White talked about what the city is looking for in deciding between the competing vendors: reliability, affordability and an outreach plan for low-income areas. The city has not released the names of the two finalists. Five companies initially were considered. The vendor will have the option of leasing the $300,000 downtown network recently installed to serve the city's new electronic parking meters. The goal of the network, which would blanket Houston's 600 square miles, is to make Internet access cheaper for residents and businesses. White envisions offering network access for free in certain public places, including parks and libraries, and at discounted rates for residents in low-income areas. City government also might pay a below-market price. Local politicians and community and business leaders were enthusiastic about the network's potential. It would provide opportunities for Houston's technology sector and cut costs for other businesses, said Umesh Verma, chairman of the Greater Houston Partnership's technology infrastructure committee. "There will be a whole new wave of the way we live and the way we work and the way we play," he said. City emergency workers and private business employees, for example, would be able to tap into the network from their vehicles to find their destinations. alexis.grant@chron.com chronicle
It seems like this would be a good service for the government to provide for free. Has a very Star Trek feel to it where people can just access information anywhere.
And it KILLS the cell phone business......now just get a PDA with wifi- and you have a free SKype phone on your hip at all times. It was one of the core reasons that we at Gizmondo thought we had a chance. DD
While sort of on the subject, what are your thoughts on the GP2X? Not nearly as ambitious as what Gizmondo was shooting for... but if someone threw some marketing money behind it, where could they go with something like that?
Which is why I think it will fail Anything that interferes with BIG BID NESS will face crazy resistance Rocket River
It all depends on the consumers and their acceptance, many cool products have clashed with big bidness and the masses won out. DD
Nope, they would not do that at all, because you would still need a cell phone outside of the network range... DD
Yeah, that and you had this crazy notion that your top executives wouldn't embezzel millions of dollars.
