Using Advertising to Fund Free Muni WiFi

I gave a presentation this morning at the Lafayette TechSouth Conference and had the opportunity to listen to several other presentations from Tropos, EarthLink, and Cisco. We all know that every city on the US has looked at deploying city wide WiFi systems to provide wireless broadband internet access across the city. The business model is very hard to get ISP's to privately fund these type of networks. The network that Google is building in Mountainview CA will use advertising sponsorship to fund the ongoing operating cost as well as the initial infrastructure cost to deploying a Muni WiFi system is really a very old concept. Long before cable TV networks the main ABC, CBS, and NBC networks relied on advertising to generate revenue to fund ongoing operations so why not have a free and open WiFi network that provides advertising.

Divitas Networks answer to VoWiFi

Start-up touts answers for VoWi-Fi
Multifunction appliance and dual-mode handset software ties together WLAN and cellular. By Phil Hochmuth, Network World, 04/17/06

Start-up Divitas Networks is expected to debut this week with technology for tying together corporate wireless LANs, cellular networks and Wi-Fi hot spots as one mobile voice and data network.


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Free Google Wi-Fi Privacy Concerns

Privacy advocates are raising concerns about Google Inc.'s plans to cover San Francisco with free wireless Internet access, calling the company's proposal to track users' locations a potential gold mine of information for law enforcement and private litigators.

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"To use the Google service, you'd have to log into your Google account. Voila! That would mean Google knows who and where you are, since the wi-fi access point you tap into will have a known geographic location. Of course, you use the paid version from Earthlink, you give them a credit card, log into your Earthlink account. Voila! Exactly the same issue." Danny Sullivan on Apr. 10, 2006

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802.11w to increase wireless security

IEEE 802.11i, the standard behind Wi-Fi Protected Access and WPA 2, patched the holes in the original Wired Equivalent Privacy specification by introducing new cryptographic algorithms to protect data traveling across a wireless network. Now, the 802.11w task group is looking at extending the protection beyond data to management frames, which perform the core operations of a network.


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Brookline, Mass. to deploy 4.9, 2.4, & 5.8 Wireless Network

The multi-spectrum (2.4, 5.8 and 4.9 GHz), multi-radio, mesh network will enable public safety, government and commercial applications on a single infrastructure. This is the first mixed-use network using an integrated public safety access channel (4.9GHz) to be deployed in the Boston metropolitan area and in the State of Massachusetts.

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