700 sq. miles of wi-fi
Published by Jonathan October 17th, 2005 in TechnologyAs a fan of wi-fi in public spaces, this article about a 700-square mile wireless access zone in Oregon is exciting.
Wi-Fi Cloud Covers Rural Oregon
Parked alongside his onion fields, Bob Hale can prop open a laptop and read his e-mail or, with just a keystroke, check the moisture of his crops.
As the jack rabbits run by, he can watch CNN online, play a video game or turn his irrigation sprinklers on and off, all from the air conditioned comfort of his truck.
…
While his service is free to the general public, Ziari is recovering the investment through contracts with more than 30 city and county agencies, as well as big farms such as Hale’s, whose onion empire supplies over two-thirds of the red onions used by the Subway sandwich chain. Morrow County, for instance, pays $180,000 a year for Ziari’s service. Each client, he said, pays not only for yearly access to the cloud but also for specialized applications such as a program that allows local officials to check parking meters remotely.
Where is the downside to this? Companies that have a stranglehold on local high-speed internet access are loathe to allow any type of competition. In this case the wi-fi is free to the public. All it would take for me to be happy would be for a company other than Comcast to offer broadband or dsl where I live. Nevermind free or low-cost access so that the underprivileged might have access as well. It’s extortion I tell you.
technorati tag: wifi
Would the local governments raise taxes to pay for this?
The thought of having “free” wireless internet access is appealing, even if they take $ away from other areas to pay for it. (since half the time the money is wasted on things that don’t even concern us)