Paris, The City Of Wi-Fi?

TheMatt writes "An article at the IHT describes an effort to make Paris one big Wi-Fi hotspot. The project, with partners like RATP and Cisco, if approved, will place two or three antennae outside each of the 372 Metro stations in Paris and link them through an existing fiber network that runs through the subway tunnels. The current pilot project is centered along the route of Bus No. 38. You can sign up for access to the pilot which is free until June 30."

Comments

doubts

[selderrr]

I don't know how succesfull this can be... There are 2 potential markets (leaving kids with portables as a marginal marketshare)

- people of paris : why would they subsribe to such service ? They likely have a home in paris, with internet access a lot cheaper, more reliable and more secure.
- visiting bussinessmen : why would they subsrcibe either ? Most hotels have access for a reasonable fee, and are not subscription based.


Additionally, I seriously wouldn't want to sit with my portable open on a bench near a subway entrance in autumn/winter when it gets dark after 19:00. Subway stations are not exactly known for their safety, and walking around with a 2000Euro piece of electronics is asking for trouble.

Additionally, i consider it silly to first sit in the subway for 15 minutes wit haportable and no connection, and then finally getting out in the open where you have to sit again to connect. Wouldn't it be much better to put the base stations INSIDE the trains ?

Call me stupid, but my guess is that they'd better focus on appartment buildings : place a wifi hotspot on top of it, and you've got you whole building connected for low fee and without having to rewire the damd thing.

Re:doubts

[Usquebaugh]

Look up pervasive computing. Start to think outside the stupid screen/keyboard paradigm. If you have the infrastructure then the apps will come.

Re:doubts

[stefanlasiewski]

Look up pervasive computing. Start to think outside the stupid screen/keyboard paradigm. If you have the infrastructure then the apps will come.

Not always. There needs to be enough demand for your service

The American telecom industry built a hell of alot of infrastructure, and many of those companies went out of business because there was no demand for their service.

How many groundbreaking wireless companies have gone out of business in the last couple decades?

Personally, I have little desire to pay $30 a month to carry a WIFI computer around with me all of the time. The best thing about computers is that you can get away from them.

Re:doubts

[Anonymous Coward]

The goal is to implement WiFi as an other way for rapid mobile phone access. As of now, GPRS seems to be overkill with mobile phones, but cameras on increasingly cheap mobile phones should change that. Sending a 64kB mail with photos, even on 3+2 hardware, is quite long. And that's not even taking those short mpeg4 clips into consideration.

On the other hand, UMTS technology could do that, and much more, but since it's so expensive and nothing is ready yet, there is an opportunity for an other technology to take the place.

So, at the end who would provide this service ? Mobile phone operators. And if France Telecom is powerfull enough to build its own network, smaller operators like Bouygues Telecom will gladly pay to use it.

(And putting base stations in the train is a terrible idea, since the elecromagnetic field created by the movement of the train is quite huge, and requires extremely well thought and protected electronic devices for a small advantage)

Re:doubts

[GlassHeart]

access to resturant reviews would be nice, but whenever I'm out with my friends, we can come up with plenty of recomendations without the aid of a computer

Yes, but do you know if the restaurant you want can accommodate you? What if you get to pick a few restaurants, and tell your device to reserve a table for six at the restaurants you selected (in some priority) automatically? What if you get to download today's menu while your friend drives you all there? What if you can order your food en route?

For all their inconvenience, a good map, guidebook, and phrasebook will cost you about $50 total and can fit in your pockets or a backpack.

And doesn't need a battery to work. Very important limitation. :)

However, that backpack takes time to put together. It takes pre-planning. The wireless future in my mind is one where you are free to not plan. "Find a good mediterranean restaurant within ten blocks we can eat at," I would say. The device understands where we are, and what time it is, and has the Network to query to find out what it needs, and comes back to me with a list of restaurants.

Wow, is it enough bandwidth?

[Musashi Miyamoto]

Does 802.11(b or g) enough bandwidth to handle that many people? Not that everyone has a WiFi connection, but when you provide ubiquitious access, the applications will be created that utilize it.

I don't think that 802.11 can handle more than a handful of users before it is swamped. I imagine that the city will be subdivided somehow so that broadcast traffic from one machine isn't repeated to every node in the city.

Being connected all the time?

[saskboy]

Isn't being connected to the Internet all the time sort of ... creepy?

I mean, don't even corporate execs need to get away from the World Wide Web a few minutes in the day, and just zone out while on the subway, or riding the bus?

Just because we can do it, doesn't mean it is a good idea. If Paris suffers a spike in crazy CEOs, then I say we call the trial a failure.