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Municipal WiFi Costs Outweigh Benefits

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the subtle-jabs dept.

TheSync writes "JupiterResearch claims that muni WiFi costs outweigh benefits. It can cost up to $150,000 per square mile over five years, which may not even provide each user a benefit of $25 a month. They suggest that such projects only be taken on as public-private partnerships."

3 of 322 comments (clear)

  1. costs outweigh the benefits? by thegoogler · · Score: 5, Interesting

    ive heard the same said about public transportation a few times, and im sure it was said about the power system(which is municipal, at least in some areas)

  2. It has to work better, first by NineNine · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Honestly, wi-fi in general needs to work better before people are going to use it exclusively. We just stopped using our town's free wi-fi because it sucked. And, I stopped using it in my house a few months back, also. I've never seen a solid, stable, fast wi-fi implementation. It's fun and cute for people checking their email quickly at Starfucks, but wi-fi still isn't there (from everything I've seen) for a regular, dedicated connection.

  3. Ask Hugo, Colorado... by Deadstick · · Score: 5, Interesting

    ...or any of several small communities in this state if they'd prefer an inefficient WiFi network to no broadband at all.

    Qwest has the DSL rights in Colorado pretty well locked up, and simply won't give service in the rural towns until it's damn good and ready..and that won't be anytime soon, because it hasn't even finished wiring Denver yet. Meanwhile, it's lobbying for a state law to ensure that its monopoly will continue to await Qwest's whim.

    rj