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[IP] Philadelphia building world's largest hotspot





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From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: September 1, 2004 10:24:17 PM EDT
To: Dewayne-Net Technology List <dewayne-net@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [Dewayne-Net] Philadelphia building world's largest hotspot
Reply-To: dewayne@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Philadelphia building world's largest hotspot

The city of Philadelphia is developing an ambitious plan to build the world's largest wireless Internet hotspot. It would cost about $10 million and cover all of the city's 135 square miles. The plan calls for placing hundreds, if not thousands, of APs around the city atop lampposts and rooftops. The plan would be especially helpful in poor neighborhoods, where high-speed Internet access is now rare. The fee structure has not yet been determined, but the city would likely offer the service for free or at costs much lower than the $35 to $60 per month charged by commercial providers.

Philadelphia is following in the footsteps of other urban centers, even though the scale is much larger. Last year, for example, Cleveland added 4,000 wireless transmitters in the University Circle, Midtown, and lakefront districts. The service is free. New York City officials are negotiating to sell wireless carriers space on 18,000 lampposts for as much as $21.6 million annually. Los Angeles plans a similar city-wide cloud. Of course, wireless broadband as a cheap public utility will require far greater public access to the airwaves than is currently available, particularly unlicensed spectrum at low frequencies.

Link to A.P. story: <http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=528&u=/ap/20040901/ ap_on_hi_te/wireless_cities&printer=1>


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