There is a phenomenon gaining strength in the US which is reshaping the high-speed wireless world. Cities around the country are beginning to implement public high-speed wireless (primarily 802.11) systems at a rate which will reshape the landscape permanently.
What began as an entrepreneurial effort in airports, convention centers and coffee shops is evolving and being eclipsed by a public need and basic right to connectivity.
Government has traditionally provided basic services to its citizens such as electric, water and sewer, roads, parks, schools and social services. These and other services have been identified as core services required for living.
Today a convergence of technological ability, economical implementation costs and the elevation of access to information, through ubiquitous high-speed internet as a basic public service have created an environment for this paradigm shift.
The model that is evolving calls for universal high speed connectivity at a dramatically reduced cost or totally free to the public. This is being and will be provided as a public utility service by cities and governments through their public electric utilities and other service departments.
St. Cloud, Florida, a suburb of Orlando, whose motto is "Celebrating Small Town Life" is currently implementing the prototype model of tomorrow for public wireless.
On July 1st of this year the city went live on Phase 1 of its "Cyber Spot", a 100% free-to-the-public high-speed wireless network. This initial phase covers about 12 square blocks of the historic downtown and the lakefront. By the end of this year Phase 2 will go live covering the city's master planned mixed use development, Stevens Plantation, adding one square mile of coverage.
The goal is to expand the system over the entire 12 square miles of the city in 2005. This would provide residents anywhere within the city limits free high-speed internet - anyplace, anytime.
As part of this process the city, which is projected to expand over the next 5 years through annexations to as much as 20-24 square miles, will become possibly the first city in America to require through its land development code that all new developments expand the city wireless infrastructure along with other services such as electric, roads, water and sewer.
The initial uses of the system are significant and include public safety, education, city departments and general public connectivity. These uses can justify the system 10 times over but as Mayor Sangiovanni (the driving force in the city on the implementation) points out it is the government's job to put the backbone in place and create the opportunity which will enhance the lives of all its citizens. While there are many uses today, that will expand exponentially over time as people find more and more ways to incorporate and use the system.
We only need to look at the internet for guidance. It was only in the early 90's that the internet left the world of academia and entered the public domain with the debut of the first Netscape graphical interface.
Today the internet is pervasive in our lives with the majority of the current uses never envisioned in the earliest days. It was the placement of the opportunity that created the ingenuity we all experience today.
You can philosophically and economically justify the implementation of public systems everywhere. You can argue that this eliminates the information divide between those that are economically advantaged and those that are not, leveling the playing field.
You can justify the cost through increased levels of public safety. You can justify the cost through internal productivity gains within city government. You can argue that increased connectivity will be an economic development driver for businesses within the community. All these and many more reasons would be 100% correct and should be reason enough.
Here is a basic statistic we have looked at in St. Cloud. 72% of its citizens have internet access at home, 29% of those broadband.
The savings to the citizens in a typical household wi
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There is a phenomenon gaining strength in the US which is reshaping the high-speed wireless world. Cities around the country are beginning to implement public high-speed wireless (primarily 802.11) systems at a rate which will reshape the landscape permanently. What began as an entrepreneurial effort in airports, convention centers and coffee shops is evolving and being eclipsed by a public need and basic right to connectivity. Government has traditionally provided basic services to its citizens such as electric, water and sewer, roads, parks, schools and social services. These and other services have been identified as core services required for living. Today a convergence of technological ability, economical implementation costs and the elevation of access to information, through ubiquitous high-speed internet as a basic public service have created an environment for this paradigm shift. The model that is evolving calls for universal high speed connectivity at a dramatically reduced cost or totally free to the public. This is being and will be provided as a public utility service by cities and governments through their public electric utilities and other service departments. St. Cloud, Florida, a suburb of Orlando, whose motto is "Celebrating Small Town Life" is currently implementing the prototype model of tomorrow for public wireless. On July 1st of this year the city went live on Phase 1 of its "Cyber Spot", a 100% free-to-the-public high-speed wireless network. This initial phase covers about 12 square blocks of the historic downtown and the lakefront. By the end of this year Phase 2 will go live covering the city's master planned mixed use development, Stevens Plantation, adding one square mile of coverage. The goal is to expand the system over the entire 12 square miles of the city in 2005. This would provide residents anywhere within the city limits free high-speed internet - anyplace, anytime. As part of this process the city, which is projected to expand over the next 5 years through annexations to as much as 20-24 square miles, will become possibly the first city in America to require through its land development code that all new developments expand the city wireless infrastructure along with other services such as electric, roads, water and sewer. The initial uses of the system are significant and include public safety, education, city departments and general public connectivity. These uses can justify the system 10 times over but as Mayor Sangiovanni (the driving force in the city on the implementation) points out it is the government's job to put the backbone in place and create the opportunity which will enhance the lives of all its citizens. While there are many uses today, that will expand exponentially over time as people find more and more ways to incorporate and use the system. We only need to look at the internet for guidance. It was only in the early 90's that the internet left the world of academia and entered the public domain with the debut of the first Netscape graphical interface. Today the internet is pervasive in our lives with the majority of the current uses never envisioned in the earliest days. It was the placement of the opportunity that created the ingenuity we all experience today. You can philosophically and economically justify the implementation of public systems everywhere. You can argue that this eliminates the information divide between those that are economically advantaged and those that are not, leveling the playing field. You can justify the cost through increased levels of public safety. You can justify the cost through internal productivity gains within city government. You can argue that increased connectivity will be an economic development driver for businesses within the community. All these and many more reasons would be 100% correct and should be reason enough. Here is a basic statistic we have looked at in St. Cloud. 72% of its citizens have internet access at home, 29% of those broadband. The savings to the citizens in a typical household wi