Toronto Hydro has taken a smart approach to building the network as an independent commercial venture, because it makes it more difficult for Bell/Rogers/Telus to complain about unfair competition. Comparable municipal wireless initiatives in the US have been heavily bogged down by lobbying and lawsuits from incumbent telcos.
But the downside of this approach is that Toronto’s citizen’s needs are much less likely to be addressed, because city council may not have any influence over the project.
Toronto Hydro has made no mention (and maybe never will) of several issues of importance to Torontonians:
– the need of underserved communities and small business
– public consultation process
– a commitment to permanent free access in public spaces
– the timeline and priority for expansion of the network beyond the downtown core
There are very nice places that have free WiFi (Like Linux Cafe)
For the price of a cup of good coffee, who will need Toronto Hydro, when they start charging?
I strongly support the TH’s initiative. It is good to have some competition in this very tight market with just a few giants sharing the whole profit between themselves. It will nudge them to drop the prices also. It was time for Toronto to have its own wireless citywide network.
I support any initiative to create a wireless network in Toronto. However I really think this should be free, and as much as possible it shouldn’t be under the control of only one big corporation. Otherwise different restrictions come in time. For example Rogers which has a lot of traffic filtering. Basically you pay for bandwidth and access to internet but you get your traffic limited by any kind of rules they think is appropriate.
i am from out of town and wondering if anyone knows of pay as you go or wi fi networks that will work at the Toronto Western Hospital? i am having surgury Dec 4th but will have to stay up to a month at the hospital i notice the big hydro wifi only goes as far as spadina but does anyone know for sure if there is acess spots available at Toronto Western hospital?
email me if anyone knows
felix@personainternet.com