In a nod to the ever-popular TTC buttons created by Spacing‘s Matt Blackett, WT is staking its own space on the public digital infrastructure… $8/hr for WiFi access? free ‘trial period’s? I think not.
No cost public wireless internet. the better way, indeed.
Designed by Dory, the buttons will be available at our next (May) meeting and 1-year anniversary social.
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!
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:
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.”
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.
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).
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!
After the initial media frenzy over Toronto Hydro’s WiFi announcement, there was a noticeable lull. Well, after almost a week of inactivity in the major media outlets, I came across this Globe and Mail update. Deveau’s “throwdown” briefly compares (coverage, installation costs, and pricing) Toronto Hydro’s proposed network with ones in Philadelphia, New Brunswick, and Tempe (AZ).
Now, I’m glad to see this back in the news, because there are many questions I would like to see addressed (i.e. what, if any, consideration will be given to underserved communities, businesses, and individuals? what is the role of the City in THT’s plan?)
But what puzzled me about this G+M article was why Ottawa wasn’t included. Given Dobbins’ previous tenure as Telecom Ottawa’s head, it seems logical to consider how they’ve set up pricing and who they’re partnered with, for some insight into how Toronto Hydro Telecom’s own network will unfold. For example, it looks like Telecom Ottawa, Fibretech, Hydro One Telecom, SCBN, Toronto Hydro Telecom, Enersource Telecom, Fibrewired and other Utelcos are all part of a “regional partnership”.
For that matter, I’m also puzzled by the lack of attention being given to the implications of these partnerships. Also (curiously) absent from any coverage of this plan is mention of UTC Canada, “a trade association focused on addressing the critical telecommunications issues for utilities and energy companies in Canada and the providers of telecommunications infrastructure or information technology services.”
It seems this would make for an interesting line of inquiry and discussion, more so than whether or not Wi-Fi poses any health risks.
an interesting BBC News article discusses a few of the social implications of ubiquitous Wi-Fi.
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By Mark Ward
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For some time, many cafes, libraries, shops, stations, airports and restaurants have been installing wi-fi access points so customers can surf the web as they eat, browse or wait.
Dr Jo Twist, senior research fellow at the Institute for Public Policy Research, said once the net was ubiquitous like power and water, it had the potential to be “transformative”. The divide that separates people from their online lives will utterly disappear. Instead of leaving behind all those net-based friends and activities when you walk out of your front door, you will be able to take them with you.
“A ubiquitous, cheap or free wireless network…could help encourage innovative uses of that network which enliven our public spaces as well as our networks with each other,” said Dr. Twist.
The article echoes the “Cyberspace is Dead” sentiment, and prompts us to consider some of the social and cultural possibilities of ubiquitous access.
“District to Seek Wireless Internet that Aids Poor”
Washington Post,
Arshad Mohammed,
Thursday, March 9, 2006
The D.C. government is preparing to ask companies to bid on building a wireless Internet system through much of the city, including free service for low-income residents.
But unlike other municipalities such as Philadelphia and San Francisco that have commissioned such networks city-wide, the District plans to give its contract to the company that goes furthest in serving low-income residents with free Web access and even free computers and training.
This is a valuable idea that the City of Toronto should be paying more attention to. In all the discussions surrounding the potential impact and applications of Toronto Hydro Telecom’s proposed wireless mesh architecture, there has been far too little conversation about how the new network can be used to reach underserved communities and small businesses.
D.C.’s Mayor Williams describes the rationale for his unique approach to municipal wireless:
“Access to technology is like access to books: it’s an important medium of communication and learning and opportunity,” Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) said yesterday in an interview. “Other cities are doing it and I want our city doing it too.”
Williams said he was not worried that some areas might get left out. “I think there is sufficient market incentive to serve the other areas of the city. The problem is there isn’t sufficient market incentive to serve the lowest-income parts of our city, and that’s what I am trying to do here.”
The winning company would get an exclusive, eight-year franchise to attach wireless devices to District-owned street lights and buildings. This of course, is a key difference between DC and Toronto, since Toronto Hydro purchased Toronto’s street light system for $60 million last year, and as an independent operator, doesn’t require City approval to run its network.
The approach taken by D.C.’s mayor underlines the potential of a city-wide mesh. That is, leveraging the lower-cost of wireless networking technology to meet the needs of underserved individuals, communities, and small businesses. The D.C. plan demonstrates foresight, and while not entirely replicable in Toronto, is an admirable example of innovative leadership.
The debate continues to swirl around Toronto Hydro’s Tuesday, March 7 announcement. One of the most prominent and obvious elements of the discussion revolves around how Toronto Hydo Telecom’s plan will change the consumer/enterprise broadband market. In an article by Mark Evans, the telco’s weigh in with their predictable opposition:
Mike Lee, chief strategy officer with Rogers Communications Inc., said he cannot understand why Toronto Hydro, which is owned by the cash-strapped city of Toronto, wants to enter the Internet access business, because it can be expensive to operate and maintain.
We see the other side of the argument in an ITWorldCanada article, where Mark Els emphasizes, “the proposed network poses an obvious and very serious threat to traditional telcos such as Bell, Telus and Rogers because the service will be much more than consumer-grade.”
Moreover, the company is not new to offering secure, enterprise-class Internet connectivity. Among its customers are four of Canada’s biggest banks, who use Toronto Hydro Telecom’s Gigabit Ethernet fibre optic network to transfer data between their Toronto sites.
Lawrence Surtees, vice-president and principal analyst, communications research at IDC Canada Ltd. is also quoted in Els’ article. He is supportive of the Toronto Hydro’s entry into the market, and assesses, “ubiquitous coverage combined with high bandwidth makes Toronto Hydro Telecom’s offering a strong, viable alternative to the cellular carriers.”
Surtees also muses, “It starts to make sense why incumbent phone companies such as Verizon in San Francisco and SBC in Philadelphia have their knickers in a knot about comparable muni-services down there; and why I think Bell, Telus, Rogers are going to be possibly freaking out over this.”
Surtees’ overview of the Toronto Hydro Plan, “Toronto Hydro Lights Up GTA with WiFi Blanket” is also worth checking out. Among other things, it lists Canadian municipalities already offering WiFi access services. They are: Fredericton, Calgary, Whistler/Kamloops, Hamilton, Sault Saint Marie, and Ottawa.