Equal Access: Meraki to Tackle City-wide Wi-Fi for San Francisco

If municipalities in Europe and Asia can routinely provide wi-fi, sooner or later we will be forced to catch up here. Could it be that this is a service, like water, power, police and fire protection, education, parks, libraries and prisons, that is better suited to organization as a public service than a business?

City-wide Wi-Fi might not be a pipe dream for San Francisco residents after all. After successfully rolling out mesh networks in 6 San Francisco neighborhoods, Meraki Inc. has announced its plans to blanket the entire city with coverage by the end of 2008.

Google and Earthlink hatched a similar plan for a municipal Wi-Fi project last year that ultimately fizzled. However, Meraki believes that by bypassing coverage for the public safety sector, relying on volunteers, and installing dozens of wireless gateways on rooftops it can rapidly roll out coverage.

...be sure to visit Meraki's website.

The rest of the story: Wired

Public Access: NYC's Biggest Hotspot

Just when it seemed like citywide Wi-Fi was kaput, the wireless Internet technology has come to New York City.

On Thursday, CBS announced the creation of a 20-block wireless high-speed network in Manhattan. Dubbed the "CBS Mobile Zone," it stretches from Times Square to the southern portion of Central Park. Within the zone, people with Wi-Fi-enabled cell phones, laptops or PDAs will be able to access the Internet and make calls over the Internet for free. CBS has committed to a six-month trial of the technology.

The experiment should provide hope for boosters of municipal Wi-Fi following the recent bust-up of Wi-Fi projects in Chicago, Houston, San Francisco and St. Louis. EarthLink, once a high-profile backer of the technology, is grappling with a restructuring that has left planned projects in Chicago and Houston in the lurch. Projects in San Francisco and St. Louis have been delayed and downsized, due to technical issues and city politics.

The rest of the story: Forbes