Wireless Dreams Coming True

A few years ago, cities wanted to be wired. Now it’s all about being wireless.
Tempe is at the forefront of what is going to be the next big thing in municipal oneupmanship: Making your entire city a WiFi hot spot. Tom Gibbons writes in the East Valley Tribune yesterday.

“Tempe likely will become the first city in the United States with border-to-border access to high-speed, wireless Internet.

And it looks like a pretty good deal for the city. The contractor, MobilePro Corporation of Bethesda, Md., is using city light poles and the like to attach the equipment. No charge to the city. MobilePro gets to showcase its wares.

When completed, visitors and residents with laptops with wireless capability will be able to access the Internet from anywhere in town. They will be able to view city and ASU Web pages free. For anything else, they’ll need an Internet Service Provider.

Other cities will follow quickly. Philadelphia plans to become the first big city with citywide wireless capability. The mayor of San Francisco wants every citizen to have it. City-wide wireless will be an issue in the upcoming New York mayoral election.

Yes, this will be the latest rage in the competition among cities.”