Thursday, October 02, 2008
Should Cities Go Wireless?
According to Ken Belson of the New York Times a company named "Q-Ware" has provided the citi of Taipai with wireless internet
The article explains that the people of Taipai have not readily accepted this "reasonably priced network" and continues to state that many cities around the world are looking to add this service yet would like it to run for free! Many wireless network companies are not ready to make it free yet they are still working."TAIPEI, Taiwan — Peter Shyu, an engineer, spends most of his day out of the office, and when he needs an Internet connection he often pops into one of the many coffee shops in this city that offer free wireless access.
He could use WiFly, the extensive wireless network commissioned by the city government that is the cornerstone of Taipei's ambitious plan to turn itself into an international technology hub. But that would cost him $12.50 a month.
"I'm here because it's free, and if it's free elsewhere, I'll go there too," said Mr. Shyu, hunched over his I.B.M. laptop in an outlet of the Doutor coffee chain. "It's very easy to find free wireless connections."
Despite WiFly's ubiquity — with 4,100 hot spot access points reaching 90 percent of the population — just 40,000 of Taipei's 2.6 million residents have agreed to pay for the service since January. Q-Ware, the local Internet provider that built and runs the network, once expected to have 250,000 subscribers by the end of the year, but it has lowered that target to 200,000.
That such a vast and reasonably priced wireless network has attracted so few users in an otherwise tech-hungry metropolis should give pause to civic leaders in Chicago, Philadelphia and dozens of other American cities that are building wireless networks of their own."
What is the message of this article? That cities should think twice about getting into the Wi-Fi business because there will be so many hotspots offered for free by companies, stores, cafe's etc. But does that critique apply to all cities? Perhaps Taipei is still making a wise decision to offer cheap Wi-Fi to ensure it's competitive position.
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