Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Municipal Wireless for New Orleans
Washington Post: Big Easy Launches Free Wireless System
Mayor Ray Nagin has announced that New Orleans will be a hot spot once more--a wireless hot spot. The City of New Orleans is not waiting for the private sector to provide high speed wireless for the devastated city. It has built its own wireless network.
Attempts by other cities and rural areas to set up muni wifi have met with opposition from corporate internet providers:
Hundreds of similar projects in other cities have met with stiff opposition from phone and cable TV companies, which have poured money into legislative bills aimed at blocking competition from government agencies _ including a state law in Louisiana that needed to be sidestepped for the New Orleans project.According to the Post, Corporate opponents of municipal ownership argue that "competition from government-run Internet service stymies their incentive to invest in upgrading their networks and services." Hundreds of municipalities across the nation are considering building publicly owned and operated wifi networks on their own or in partnership with corporate internet providers.
