DocumentCode
932165
Title
Municipal Wi-Fi: big wave or wipeout?
Author
Gibbons, James ; Ruth, Steve
Author_Institution
George Mason Univ., Fairfax, VA
Volume
10
Issue
3
fYear
2006
Firstpage
66
Lastpage
71
Abstract
This article describes some contemporary cases, explores the perspectives of municipalities, providers, and legislators, and examines some examples that could synchronize the various stake-holders\´ positions. We focus here mostly on US cases. Deployment of wireless services to cities and towns has become a topic of considerable controversy. At the center of the debate is the decision by municipalities to offer low-cost service to citizens who would normally be excluded from the Internet. This "digital divide" justification often pits large cities against incumbent telecommunications providers. Legislation at the national and state levels has been somewhat favorable to the providers so far, but this bias might be shifting as more large providers join, rather than oppose, municipal wireless projects
Keywords
Internet; legislation; social aspects of automation; wireless LAN; Internet; municipal Wi-Fi; Cities and towns; Companies; Computer networks; Contracts; IP networks; Legislation; Local government; Web and internet services; Wireless application protocol; Wireless networks; municipal Wi-Fi; wireless services;
fLanguage
English
Journal_Title
Internet Computing, IEEE
Publisher
ieee
ISSN
1089-7801
Type
jour
DOI
10.1109/MIC.2006.60
Filename
1631980
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