Monthly Archives: April 2006

Why Toronto needs (Free) public WiFi

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Wireless infrastructure and the future of cities seems to be a hot topic today…

The Globe and Mail has an interesting article today that ties into my earlier post about MuniWireless and the Future of Cities. In tech columnist Jack Kapica’s, “Toronto aims to be high-tech hub“, we’re given a brief overview of the new “Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Strategy for the Toronto Region”.

Kapica summarizes,

“The report also calls for an internationally competitive public-access wireless Internet service to be put in place. It has a goal of attracting at least five new ICT multinational companies to the region, and increasing by 10 per cent the annual rate of formation of new companies.

The underlying rationale for this layer of infrastructure is traceable to the Floridian perspective on cities and their economies, that focuses on what Creative Economies (driven by creative class workers), need to accomplish in order to thrive.
That is, the provision of a public access wireless internet service is desirable as part of a general strategy of economic, cultural, and social development.

“the city [of Toronto] has all the right elements for a dynamic tech sector: universities, diversity, a Bohemian culture and a good ICT base in telecom infrastructure.”

Of course, the report doesn’t go as far as recommending free public WiFi, but it’s heartening to see that there are some people at the City finally becoming wise to the need for public WiFi in Toronto!

the Future of Cities (and MuniWireless)

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An excellent post from Anthony Townsend over at Institute for the Future (IFTF), via Esme Vos. Titled, “Ad-Supported Municipal Wireless Networks and the Future of Cities: Three Issues Missing From the Current Debate”. In it, Anthony underlines how the discussion surrounding municipal wireless networks does not address 3 important issues:

  • Guaranteeing citizens’ role as content providers
  • Finding a balance for location privacy
  • Enabling the Internet of Things

Notably, he suggests

“in order to guarantee that municipal wireless networks willl enhance citizen’s roles as content providers, cities should:

• Require that wireless franchisees provide significant community access to wireless captive portal pages and splash pages. Ownership, control and access to this resource can be organized in any number of ways – having local students document and chronicle local events and other open content authoring models. “

This “community content” is something that has been of particular interest to volunteers here. Location-specific art, storytelling, and music is something a lot of people are keen on here, and as our network grows, I’m excited to see how and who takes this up!

Meanwhile, developers at Ile Sans Fils are busy leading the push to hone this functionality in Wifidog, and I’m looking forward to seeing what evolves.

I’m really happy to hear/read these thoughts from Anthony. The article is thoughtful and will hopefully provoke some wider discussion around some of the cultural and civic implications of Muni-Wireless (and community wireless).

As he emphasizes,

“[there are] long-term consequences of design and implementation decisions. While the working life of today’s Wi-Fi technologies may only be five to ten years, the infrastructure and governance models put in place today are likely to shape a whole generation’s worth of urban wireless networks. If cities fail to think ahead, they may find it more challenging to leverage wireless infrastructure for digital inclusion, economic development and public safety in the future.”

WT in the Junction (Axis Gallery and Grill)

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We’ve added another new hotspot at the Axis Gallery and Grill, 3048 Dundas St. West (at High Park Ave.) It’s a really great spot, a genuine neighborhood hub. A lovely patio too, which will be perfect for some sunny summer surfing.

Located in the new art district and historic Junction neighbourhood, Axis Gallery and Grill has warm ambiance, friendly staff, great food and rockin’ live music.

I also spotted some interesting local art on the walls, and their weekly open mic “jam” seems fun. Since this spot is in my neck of the woods, I went to help (does holding cables count?) Michael do part of the install. It was the first one I’ve been to, and it was pretty straightforward: take “flashed” router, find a good spot to position/house it, test signal range, and voila – free WiFi. Amazing.

National Summit for Community Wireless Networking

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March 31-April 2, 2006, the Champaign-Urbana Community Wireless Network (CUWiN), Free Press, and Mid-Rivers Community Wireless Network hosted the Second National Summit for Community Wireless Networks at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, MO.

Even though the title of the conference says “National” (aka American), there was a strong Canadian presence at the summit. In addition to the 3 Wireless Toronto attendees (Gabe, Dory, myself), a group of 5 came from Montreal’s Ile Sans Fil, to deliver an outstanding panel, ?éle Sans Fil, and Hacking Your City:

“An 80 minute discussion of how community wireless networks can be a way to make an impact in your community on matters of social cohesion, art, culture, and civic information. Following, a 40 minute explanation and Q+A on WifiDog–a captive portal designed for these uses.”

The conference was an amazing opportunity to meet other community wireless and muni-wireless enthusiasts, and engage with policymakers, industry reps, and implementers. Over 200 people attended, and came from as far as Belgrade, Ghana, Santiago, Calcutta, and Berlin to share their experiences, discuss challenges and consider opportunities.

For anyone interested in reading up on the summit, fellow Canadian Lisa Yeo (Edmonton) has excellent notes from the summit on her blog. Of course, there is also the always excellent blog maintained by the Summit founder/director, Sascha Meinrath (CUWiN).

Toronto’s Citywide Wi-Fi Plan Full of Promise and Holes

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Liam Lahey’s article provides a thoughtful perspective to the Toronto Hydro plan, calling the picture available “cloudy at best”. He points our attention to some important gaps as to the scope, scale and rollout.

For example, he asks:

-will the network use Wi-Fi or WiMAX standard or both?
-how many city blocks will the future citywide Wi-Fi network would actually cover? Specifically, will it be the entire downtown core or specific streets?

Lahey’s article considers some of the pros and cons of a municipal wireless network.

He quotes Doug Cooper, country manager, Intel of Canada:

“Many cities are taking advantage of the Internet to deliver services more efficiently and cheaply…Imagine city repair workers being able to call up an underground water and sewer map and schematics where ever and whenever they need to. Or in the not too distant future, a city ambulance recalling patient records for an auto accident victim,” Cooper said. “Why wait until you get to the hospital to learn the victim is allergic to penicillin or some other medication? Wireless networks will change the speed and efficiency of information access.”

Warren Shiau, senior IT analyst with the Toronto-based Strategic Counsel, adds

“Free or negligible cost Wi-Fi would help speed the commoditization of consumer computing, which is already well under way, Shiau cites Dell desktops currently on sale with 2.5GHz chips for $349.”

Still, Shiau emphasizes,

“There’s always lots of talk about how blanket municipal Wi-Fi will make Internet access ubiquitous, help lower income families, promote business, etc., but the reality is it won’t be ubiquitous unless it’s free or of negligible cost.”

Overall, a really useful consideration of what the implications of this Wi-Fi network are.  There are clearly some very significant economic and social opportunities for the Toronto Hydro network to change the way Toronto delivers services and meets the needs of its citizens.  This makes me look forward to hearing more details from Toronto Hydro Telecom in the coming months!