New Orleans is about to lose its municipal Wi-Fi network as EarthLink plans to halt its participation in the citywide project on May 18, an EarthLink spokesman said Friday. Continue reading
muni
CRITIQUES OF NATIONAL BROADBAND POLICY
The Benton Foundation today notes a number of recent critiques of USA national broadband policy, or the lack of it. Continue reading
ILSR report on muni broadband
 A new report by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) explores broadband options available to communities. It concludes that municipal investment in fiber is a must. Continue reading
California Broadband Task Force reports
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger commissioned the California Broadband Task Force (CBTF) to “remove barriers to broadband access, identify opportunities for increased broadband adoption, and enable the creation and deployment of new advanced communication technologies.â€Â The Taskforce just published it’s report, saying that better, faster and more available broadband capabilities would propel economic growth for the most populous U.S. state, where 96 percent of households already have access to basic high-speed communications. They suggest the state consider issuing bonds to pay for the broadband build out. Continue reading
Dublin abandons “illegal” muni wifi, SF “Free the Net” project surges
RTE reports that the Dublin City Council has decided that a plan to provide free wireless broadband throughout the city must be been abandoned because it would be contrary to EU law on state aid. But the Labour Party, which says it originally proposed the idea of a free wi-fi city, has accused the Council of backing down as a result of pressure from the telecommunications industry.
On this side of the pond, San Francisco’s Free the Net project has distributed 40,000 Meraki repeaters to residents, creating a redundant mesh network for free wifi.
From BoingBoing
Minneapolis – a muni Wi-Fi success story
While other big cities’ municipal Wi-Fi plans are foundering, that of Minneapolis appears to be succeeding. With 30% of the city covered already, the provider US Internet expects to complete it’s network by February, and be breaking even shortly after based on the current 5% subscriber take-up rate. Continue reading
WHAT’S THE FUTURE OF MUNICIPAL WI-FI?
Despite EarthLink’s exit from the market, municipal wireless is alive and well in the U.S., mostly in small-to-midsize cities, and it’s beginning to spread to Europe, said Esme Vos, founder of MuniWireless. Vos said the predominant economic model today is for the municipality to guarantee a minimum annual contract for municipal services to provide an economic anchor for the network. It then can sell excess connectivity to businesses and private individuals. Continue reading
Trenton, NJ gets citywide Wi-Fi network
Trenton, New Jersey has selected E-Path Communications to deploy a citywide wireless broadband network for the city’s own use and for public Internet access.
Continue reading
A NATIONWIDE, BROADBAND, INTEROPERABLE PUBLIC SAFETY NETWORK
On Monday, the FCC granted the application Public Safety Spectrum Trust Corporation (PSSTC) for the single nationwide license for the public safety 700 MHz broadband spectrum allocation (i.e., the Public Safety Broadband License). The PSSTC says that it is managed and controlled by public safety entities, has no commercial interests, is a non-profit organization, and is broadly representative of the public safety community. Continue reading
EarthLink Says No More Money for Existing Muni Networks
EarthLink drops another bombshell: They hired Rolla Huff to sort out their future business, and his message from the start was steely eye, bottom line, get things on track for the future in an industry in turmoil. Then Huff cuts a huge percentage of the staff, lays off the municipal network head, and says no more investment in new networks without a change in model. Now the final piece is in place: No more “significant investments†for existing networks without some alternative model being in place, which isn’t specified in the press release. Continue reading