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Estonia Embraces Wi-Fi Wireless Internet Access
securitas writes "BBC Technology's Clark Boyd reports on one man's efforts to make free 802.11 Wi-Fi wireless Internet access ubiquitous in Estonia. An estimated two-thirds of Estonia is now covered by wireless hotspots according to Veljo Haamer, who convinced Estonia's major oil companies, Neste and Statoil, to install free hotspots at gas stations. Two-thirds of Estonia's approximately 280 public hotspots are free to use, all of which are marked with signs. But Haamer still wardrives for dead-spots and next plans to get free wireless access to public parks and green spaces. Last year Slashdot covered Estonia's legislation declaring Internet access a human right."
I ride the train to and from work all the time here in Tokyo. The other day an obviously mentally ill woman walked down the isle and asked everyone to turn off their cellphones. The signals made her heart murmur, she said. So at first I turned off my cellphone and just cursed her under my breath.
Later, after it was clear that she had satisfied her mental illness and sat down in her seat, I fired up my cellphone again for a short game of tetris. Please note that I am about half a train length away from her. When she decided it was time to bother people again, I put my foot down and refused to turn off the phone.
First of all, the phone is not emitting any signals of significant strength, especially not enough to cause heart palpitations in someone 10 yards away. Second, I was not talking on the phone, which could definitely be considered rude. Finally, I had simply had enough with her mumbo jumbo and needed to express my frustration.
Now I read this story and begin to wonder if I've caught her mental illness. I am not saying that I get physical side effects from electronic devices. God knows that I'd be dead from exposure by now if that were the case. But I wonder how much technology is enough. If there is any point to trying to maintain a technology free area.
The crazy woman was trying to create a small radio-free zone around her. I thought she was insane, but now I'm not so sure.
I have been pwned because my
A anti-geek as it may sound, I really can't see a need for 100% wireless coverage of any country large or small.
When I got to parks or outdoors, I do it to relax and escape the technology that I work with and live with. I go find a tree in a nice park near the river and sit quietly and listen to the water, the wind and the birds.
I really don't want to sit there and hear some guys talking about how they can watch their stock prices change second by second now, or some brat fragging a buddy whilst enjoying nature.
Oh well, I am safe from it in Australia at least.
"That is not dead which can eternal lie...."
Nimheil
If only my college campus could have wireless access comparable to Estonia's. And I go to Berkeley, you'd think it would look more like the future by now.
This is America, we're supposed to have the best of everything at the mere cost of selling our souls. So how come I don't get free wireless internet? How come we're 10th in percent of the population with broadband access? I blame monopolistic business practices. Wake me up when SBC finally opens their lines to competitors like they were allegedly forced to years ago.
"TV is great! Every New Year's I make a resolution to watch more TV." - Ann Coulter
Links:
yush
And Statoil is not Estonian, either.
It is Norwegian.
http://www.statoil.com/
The problem with socialism is that they always run out of other people's money. - Margaret Thatcher
Companies like statoil (which is a norwegian state owned company) might release this service as free in a certain "test" period. But i doubt they wont charge people for this if wi-fi really takes off. Statoil did this in norway too. You coud access free wifi hotspots, but after a couple of months you had to pay for it. (About a dollar pr. mb transferred). Though Estonia and Norway are two different countries (here, gas makes only for 13% of gas stations income profits. The biggest is actualy sousages and soda)... but as i said. Im skeptical.
how in the world do 280 public hot spots cover two-thirds of a country (that is 45,226 sq km in area)?
what is the technology behind these super hot spots? or is this just another case of aggrandized mathematics?
now supporting:
cmdrTaco for president '04
michael for oval office intern summer '05
Countries of Vatican and Luksemburg quickly followed the lead and covered their respective territories by Wi-Fi access points. One per country.
My other Beowulf cluster is... er...
I'm not sure where this is leading to. Certainly other /.'ers haven't said much about this. Yet.
Education is declared a human right in several countries, specifically the developing countries, but do they get it? Even with government-funded schools and subsidies? Isn't this a case of stuff-in-your-face?
OTOH, it's good to have Wi-Fi access points at as many places possible. This is truly a step towards the ever-shrinking, connected, global society. But then again, what would be the impacts? How will such a culture change us? With easier and faster access, it isn't far when the only sport would be "surfing" - and the one that doesn't involve any boards !
http://efil.blogspot.com/
Just imagine how tight you would have to have the security, and even then it would be hard to keep control over it all.
Administration of it all sounds like a impossible mission. We'll maybe not impossible, but very hard.
Estonia hey...
that's an aweful lot of pringles cans I'm gonna need for free net.
First, I live in Estonia.
The claim of 2/3 coverage is of course nonsense. I don't know where this came from. The BBC article tells that 2/3 are free to use (although I don't think it's true, maybe it was so half a year ago), not that 2/3 of the country is covered.
I feel a kind of sad, when I see similar opportunities wasted here in Poland, where Internet access is still a luxury due to TP S.A. - national telecommunication monopoly.
At least once both Estonia and Poland are in the EU emigrating won't be that hard... ;)
I saw a TV programme that featured a teacher who has become hypersenstive to electomagnetic radiation. He can't get close to mobile phones or computers or he becomes ill. Apparently copy machines are the worst.
I'm sorry if I haven't offended anyone
Education is declared a human right in several countries, specifically the developing countries, but do they get it? Even with government-funded schools and subsidies? Isn't this a case of stuff-in-your-face?
It is, and it should be. Education is not just a basic human right, but also a basic human responsibility towards others. If you don't want to learn how to live in a civilised society, go live in a cave somewhere.
I pity all the people who don't have access to free education, or are denied it all over the world, while some fat kids from rich countries think it is their right to sit in front of the TV and never learn to spell. Let them eat cake, I say.
It seems that every other day there is a big article or TV show that reveals how advanced Estonia is in every hi-tech domain.
Let's just not forget that Estonia is a really tiny country with a population slightly over 1 million people.
It is very easy to introduce such initiatives on such a small scale.
Most of Paris has free Wi-Fi now offered by the Paris municipality, and this in terms of population is bigger than Estonia. I don't see anyone bragging about it.
The other day they showed on TV how advanced Estonia is. You can pay your parking lot or buy flowers by SMS. Wow, that's really advanced and even if it so, I don't see how practical it can be. Come on, lose 2 minutes to type and SMS instead of paying by cash or credit card....
A hungry bear does not dance!
Baaah, statism has been dying for a decade. Estonia is the most liberal country in the EU, at least in terms of the economy. Flat tax rate, no company tax etc.
A threat to what, I may add.
I'm sorry if I haven't offended anyone
In the UK we do not have full cellphone coverage, the fact that there are 5 competing operators makes it even less economically viable to equip remote or mountainous areas where, perversely, they are more likely to be needed in cases of genuine emergency. Having full internet coverage by any means, except maybe by hovering airships, which is being seriously considered to cover rural areas, is simply impossible. Maybe Estonia has suddenly become very rich, if so, well and good, but I think in most countries there would be more pressing needs. Nonetheless technically it is quite an achievement to have got so far, and I am impressed.
So why can't my cable company, NTL, give me broadband? I live in London, the largest city in the UK, if not Europe. It really makes me sick, maybe I should move to Estonia, or make it a human rights issue when we are freed from the horrific oppression of Blairism.
Okay, Poland has the people and the position, but I'd say Estonia is the most promising of the new ex-Soviet EU states.
Ten years ago, as I read on the BBC, only 15% of homes in the country had a regular phone! Now they have wireless internet, the majority of people have cellphones, and quite a few people speak English. The government has radically pushed away from Soviet norms in implementing low business taxes, and is fostering a great environment for new businesses. And from what I've learned through the CIA Factbook and the BBC, Estonia has a very low crime rate and chicks who look like this. Per capita income is also still low, so employees would be cheap. The country also looks pretty.
The downsides? It's darn cold in Winter, and it's not cheap to fly to (yet).
Still, it looks like Estonia is a promising little nation who understands the concepts of the free market and capitalism in generating better living conditions.. and if I had to choose one of the new EU states to live in.. well, Estonia looks the most promising for those in business.
It's not that cold. Well, depends on what you're used to, of course, but this past winter here (my first in Estonia) was comparable to the ones from the Midwest in the US. It got a little colder, but less snowfall. In any case, I don't want people to get the impression it's Arctic cold.
And yes, as software engineer living in Estonia, I can say that the economy seems very promising for the tech industry. Wifi all over country may not be that necessary, but its indicitave of the investment that the government and industy is willing to make in popularizing tech. Also, the people here are generally quite tech savvy. No checks in Estonia; everything is bank-to-bank transfer done generally through the internet (most people (literally) use internet banking here).
And just to complete the brochure here, it's a very pretty country. I live in the capital, Tallinn, which is a pretty hip town, especially in the warmer months. It's got an old downtown with beautiful medieval age architecture, but with a lot of good restaurants and bars and shops. The countryside is also pretty, relaxing, and easy to get to. Finally, every thing is dirt cheap (compared to America). Oh, and yes, the parent poster is correct: Estonia has the most beautiful women in Europe. The sidewalks may as well be runways; it's uncanny.
I'm also a software engineer in Tallinn, like another poster. To address a few of the points:
- As someone else mentioned, 2/3 of the land area of the country isn't covered. You could actually make an argument that 2/3 of the population is in a WiFi area, but that's mainly because 2/3 of the population lives in the 2 largest cities (Tallinn and Tartu). At least for me, when I travel to another town in Estonia, I check the wifi.ee website to see where the nearest WiFi point is in that area, so I can get on the Net.
- I've been in the room where the cabinet ministers conduct business, and it really is a computer at each minister's seat. I haven't seen a live session so I can't say how much they use them, but apparently they are used to distribute information (instead of printing out lengthy documents).
- The places that charge for WiFi are not that pricey. It's usually about 70 eurocents to use it for a 24-hour period. You just fire up your browser and try to go to a URL and you end up at a webpage that tells you to SMS a certain number and it'll SMS you back with a password. The nice thing about it is almost all for-pay WiFi points are run by the same company (Uninet), and your password works at all Uninet access points during that period. I jump from coffee shop to coffee shop. You can also buy a monthly contract with Uninet, but that's only useful if you use for-pay access points very frequently.
- Very few of the access points have any type of security, and some even have open mail relays. I don't think this has caused any problems, maybe because of the type of person who would use the access points (business people, students), but it may become an issue in the future. I'm sure there will be some sort of uproar when someone tries to hack into something while using a public access point. But the risks are also there in a public internet cafe, since they don't check your ID there either.
- Yes it's correct that part of the reason Estonia is "high-tech" because it's easy to implement things like this in a country of only 1.4 million people. But I wouldn't say that's a negative point. In some ways, the country can serve as a testbed before rolling new technologies out in other countries. Is it wrong that the government promotes the internet? I don't think it is.
- I don't buy these doomsday predictions about how it's so bad to have WiFi coverage in so many places. Don't use it if you don't want to. I work at home, and usually at least one day a week I'll go out for lunch (at a WiFi-enabled place of course), then hop around to different WiFi hotspots through the day, as I work. It works great for me.
- The price of setting up a hotspot isn't that bad. You just need the WiFi access point and a DSL line, which can cost as little as 30 EUR per month. A lot of businesses already have DSL anyway, so then it's just the one-time cost of the access point. For instance, I'm pretty sure those petrol stations already had DSL on premises, so it wasn't a big deal to add the access point.
- The crime statistics for Estonia are slightly out of proportion for 2 reasons: 1. The population is somewhat small, so the percentages are greatly affected by a few abnormal events (law of large numbers). 2. There are some areas with very high crime, that throw things out of proportion. These areas tend to be areas where unemployment is high, which usually means the areas where native Russian speakers live (because most jobs require that you speak Estonian -- long story). The areas with the WiFi access points, in Tallinn for example, are not in those areas. I've lived in major cities in the US and in Tallinn, and Tallinn feels much safer. Like most European cities, you don't have to worry about some guy shoving a gun in your face, because guns are difficult to obtain. I do watch out for pickpockets on the public transport (oh, and you can buy tickets or monthly passes for public transport using SMS also).