Public Access Muni WiFi vs Public Safety Muni Mesh Networks

Every day more and more news comes out about cities and towns looking build city wide WiFi networks. The growth of WiFi has created wireless internet connectivity options in many places. It has made it convenient to check email and browse the web. Companies like Tropos have deployed WiFi Mesh networks across the US that are used for Public Access but can also give public safety police and fire personnel to a high speed mobile data network. In the past public safety has relied on slower mobile data systems that have prevented more bandwidth intense applications from being used.

I do not agree it is a good thing to have public safety using the same wireless infrastructure as the general public use for WiFi access. Even you can agrue that a secure VPN tunnel across this open WiFi connection can be created, you are still using a unlicensed 2.4 spectrum and are sharing network resources with the general public. In my opinion deploying a private infrastructure 4.9 WiFi network using a licensed spectrum is the best choice.